


Whumptober 2019

by bethy_277



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Bruce Banner Is a Good Bro, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Irondad, It All Ends Well, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark-centric, Wakanda featured heavily, Whump, Whumptober, but there's lots of whump first, but whump whump whump, no deaths here though, not very edited chapters, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-11-16 14:27:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 22,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20840843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bethy_277/pseuds/bethy_277
Summary: Following the 31 prompts- one story tied together throughout them all... of Peter snapping the stones, and what happens after that for him and Tony.(Note: Peter does NOT die).





	1. Day 1- Shaky Hands

**Author's Note:**

> So here is my Whumptober contribution. It's almost Oct 1, and I can't post anything tomorrow. 
> 
> This is one story tied throughout the prompts- of Peter snapping instead of Tony. Each chapter will only be about 500-1,000 words, and I will sometimes choose from the Alternate Prompts list. 
> 
> I will say that these chapters aren't hugely edited.

“Avengers... Assemble!”

  
The sky roared above as the fight began. Tony lost track of Peter as he soared into the sky, amidst all of the people who had come back, and everyone that Strange had brought to the battlefield. He hadn’t even had a chance to talk to Peter, had just seen the teenager standing by the idiot from Missouri and Strange. He had gotten choked up seeing the kid smiling, unaware of what the past five years had been like, and how much Tony had missed him. 

Pepper had landed in front of Tony and he had been completely shocked. He had made the suit but never actually expected to see her in it, and definitely not on a battlefield where the universe was at stake- again. 

“Where is Morgan?” He called out to her as they flew around one another.

“Happy has her. She’s fine.” Pepper called back and Tony nodded. Happy loved their child like she was his own, and Tony knew she was safe. If god forbid he and Pepper lost their lives on this battlefield, Morgan would be okay and taken care of. 

Tony saw various people fighting around him as he soared through the sky. Scott was huge, and stomping on the enemies in the way while punching down anything flying, Rhodey was in the sky blasting people and ships, and Thor was setting off lightning all over the place.   
Pepper flew behind Tony, and he pulled himself up until he was back to back with her, firing at enemy ships. They hit the ground, amidst fighters both good and bad, Avengers, Wakandans and Thanos’ army. 

“Tony!” Rhodey yelled out and he glanced over to see the man joining them. The trio firing at the ships, and men at the same time, trying to take down as many foes as possible. Rhodey’s guns taking men down, while Pepper and Tony used their lasers and repulsors to take them down. Scott stomped by them all, and then Tony was smacked soundly into the ground. Rhodey and Pepper both yelled at him, and he tried to acquaint himself to get back onto his back and fight. 

He maneuvered onto his back to see one of Thanos’ army standing right there. He quickly brought his hand up to try to blast the person away but before he could, the man was pulled back away from him and then stomped on by Scott who was passing by. A blue and red-clad figure came dashing over to Tony and pulled him up off the ground.

“Pete!” Tony cried out as the teenager started rambling at him and making motions with his hands. He just stared at the teenager that he never thought he would see again, and who the whole thing had really been for. Just seeing the teenager before wasn’t enough, he realized now, actually hearing the teenager talk was the reward. He took a deep breath as Peter continued rambling and his heart soared. Tears sprung into his eyes as he stepped forward and yanked Peter into his arms, throwing them around the teenagers’ back. 

“What?” Peter asked Tony, seeming surprised, but he hugged Tony back. Tony rearranged to clutch his arms around Peters’ back even more. A small sob erupted from his chest and he heard Peter’s breath hitch.

“It is so good to see you kid.” Tony whispered to Peter who clutched his own arms even tighter. 

“Has it really been five years?” Peter whispered back.

“Yeah kid. Five long years.” Tony replied.

“Not to break this up and it’s really great to see you Peter, but there is a fight going on.” Rhodey called out and Peter pulled away from Tony. Tony found himself reaching for the kid to pull him back into his arms but Peter was out of his reach, with his mask back on his face, and going after the enemy. Tony watched him dash away, his mind racing as he tried to truly comprehend and the teenager was back with him, alive and solid.

Tony put his repulsors back online and headed back up into the sky, joining Rhodey. 

Before long, he became aware that there was a fight for the gauntlet happening and he was aware when Peter activated his Instant Kill Mode. He heard when the kid called for assistance but Pepper was there before he could help, and then Steve was helping Peter out.

“I need to do this.” Peter’s voice called and Tony glanced down to see the teenager standing by Clint, Bucky and Steve- the gauntlet in his hands.

Tony’s hands immediately got shaky, before he could even register what was happening.

“Queens, you’ll die. You know that.” Steve said and Tony’s heart immediately dropped.

“Kid!” He screamed out. “Don’t!”

“I have to try. I have to. I have powers. We need this to end, now.” Peter cried back.

“Peter, those powers won’t save you.” Clint said. “You aren’t strong enough.”

“I have to try.” Peter repeated.

“NO!” Tony screamed as Peter put the gauntlet on. The stones power streamed up Peter’s arms and into his face and he collapsed to his knees as he screamed. Tony hit the ground and ran to Peter as the teenager got his hand up and snapped. 


	2. Day 2- Explosion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello to all of you here for this wild ride of my Whumptober! I’ve never written 31 prompts into one story like this before so this is quite a challenge for me and i’m glad you are all here! 
> 
> Keep in mind, nobody dies in this. I may write like they are, but no one will.

“PETER!” Tony screamed as he reached the teenagers side, his world felt like an explosion around him. Steve was already reaching over him and Tony pushed him away to get to his kid. 

All around them the enemies were disappearing and Tony glanced around to see where Thanos was. He was sitting on a rock a few hundred yards from where Tony was and Tony had a clear vision to him, as he watched his armies disappear into thin air. 

Everywhere Tony looked, he could see people disappearing, and it was horrifically reminiscent of 5 years prior. 

It made his heart pound and he found himself looking around for Pepper and Rhodey, needing to make sure that it hadn’t gone wrong and that they weren’t disappearing. Both of them had landed on the ground and were a few paces away, their faceplates retracted, and looking at the crowd around Peter. 

Pepper had tears in her eyes as they met Tony’s, and Rhodey looked horrified at what was happening. Both of them had known Peter before the snap, and how much he meant to Tony and both had helped Tony deal with the loss. 

Tony’s eyes were drawn back to Thanos, just in time to see him start to disappear. He looked shocked and completely taken aback that his plan hadn’t worked, and then he was gone, along with the rest of the army. 

The fields of the destroyed compound were populated with Avengers, Wakandans and Sorcerers- some standing, some sitting, with others bent over friends, alive and fallen. A quick glance around showed TChalla, Strange, Wong, Carol and Nebula all standing, looking around them. 

Tony quickly drew his eyes back down to Peter, who was lying down on the destroyed ground. His arm was badly burned, and half of his face was burned. The kids’ eyes were open as he stared up at the sky, and his lips were parted as he tried to take breaths

The skin on one side of his face was burned and red, from his neck up to his forehead, stopping just shy of one of his eyes and Tony could see his ear was damaged. The gauntlet was fused to his arm, the stones sparkling in their places. Tony could see that his chest was heaving as he struggled to breathe, wheezing.

“Pete.” Tony cried as he kneeled down next to him. “Why did you do that? Why would you do that?”    
Tony reaches down to touch the teenagers’ face and Clint’s hand pulls him away. He whirls around, ready to punch at anyone he can, but the look on the other mans’ face stops him. 

  
“You can’t. We don’t know if the power could hurt anyone else. Tony, you can’t.” Clint explained and Tony ripped his hand away from him to look back down. 

Peter’s eyes were still open but they looked to be duller than before, and they weren’t focusing on anyone, but staring up into the sky. The stones were still pulsing in Peter’s body, the colors flickering on his face as Tony leaned into him.

“Pete. Kid, please look at me.” Tony pleaded. Peter’s eyes slowly moved across so that they were looking Tony directly in the face. Peter didn’t say anything, chest still rising up and down rapidly as he tried to get some breaths.

  
“He’s going.” Tony heard someone behind him say, and Tony choked on his own breath. The tears started flowing down his cheeks, and splashing onto Peter’s half-burned cheeks. The kid didn’t react to the wetness, just kept staring up at Tony. 

  
“Please don’t go Pete. Please don’t go. I just got you back. I can’t lose you kid. I can’t lose you. You’re so brave, but I need you to stay with me.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see, my Whumptober is going to be quite angsty and emotional whump more than tons of physical whump each chapter, besides the whole Peter snapping thing... I put Tony and Peter through a lot of emotions and angst. 
> 
> Also, these chapters aren’t heavily edited. I normally edit chapters a fair amount but these ones are a bit different as I think they are better that way. Hopefully that doesn’t bother anyone reading, but if you see any mistakes, please let me know.


	3. Day 3&4- *Alt* “Broken Voice” & *Alt* “Wake Up”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is day 3/4 combined, and these are two of the alternate prompts that were given by the creators of Whumptober. I had a hard time with the regular prompts.
> 
> I’ll be back on day 5!

**“** Pete, please. Stay with me kid. Please.” Tony begged as the teenager beneath him seemed to drift away even more. 

His voice broke as the emotion started to overwhelm him. His breaths started to hasten as he tried to take breaths, and they kept getting caught in his chest. He couldn’t believe that he was about to lose the kid for the second time, after just getting him back.

“Pete, you’re so brave. You’re so brave, but i need to you to hold on a little longer, okay? Can you please hold on?”

Peter didn’t respond, just kept staring up at Tony. His eyes were wet and Tony automatically went to touch the teenagers’ face to wipe them away before Clint caught his hand again. 

Tony didn’t try to fight him this time, letting the man grip his hand. He and Clint had their differences but the man had kids, and Tony could understand that Clint understood his pain at losing a child.

“I’m sorry Tony. I’m so sorry.” Clint said softly. 

Tony looked away from Peter to see Clint looking at him, tears in his eyes. 

“Hey Queens?” Steve was leaning over Peter now, and the teenagers eyes slowly shifted over to see his face. 

“You did good kid. You did so good.” Steve nodded at Peter and the teenager just looked at him, blinking slowly as he did so. 

“Tony!” Pepper came rushing over to Tony and he turned to her. She grabbed his hand and he clutched it back, gripping with all his might. 

She had retracted the suit so he felt skin. She winced slightly so he broke away, and quickly retracted the arm of the suit, so he could grab her hand properly. 

“Honey…” Pepper whispered as tears streamed down her cheeks. Another sob broke away from Tony and Pepper squeezed his hand again. 

  
“Peter.” Pepper called out softly and Peter turned his head back from Steve towards Pepper and Tony. His eyes closed and Tony’s heart jumped.

“Pete.” Tony cried as his voice broke and the teenagers’ eyes opened again. 

“Hi sweetie.” Pepper smiled at Peter. “We’re so proud of you honey, you’re so brave and you saved so many people.” 

Peter merely blinked at Pepper and Tony put his other hand over his mouth to try to absorb the sob. 

If Peter was going, he didn’t want the teenagers’ last view of the earth to be Tony crying over him. Pepper was doing much better than him, smiling at the teenager even as the tears gathered in her eyes. She swallowed hard to keep them at bay as she continued smiling at Peter.

“Peter, if you want to go, it’s okay. It’s okay honey. You’ve been so brave, you saved so many people.” 

Tony turned to Pepper, his jaw dropping as he looked at her

“What?” He shot out harshly. She gripped his hand as she turned her eyes to him.

“Tony, he’s in pain. He needs to know it’s okay to go, if that’s what he wants. If it’s time, we have to let him go.”

“Pep-” Tony tried to gasp out and she smiled slightly at him.

“I know. I know Tony. But he’s hurt, and he’s hurt badly. I don’t know if he could come back from this. It might be too much, and he needs to know it’s okay to go.” 

“I can’t do that. I can’t give him that permission Pepper.” Tony gasped out as he turned back to Peter.

Tears were flowing down his face, and falling fast and steady onto Peter’s face. “I’m not as strong as you Pep. I need him to live.”

Tony glanced around to see various Avengers, and Wakandans standing around, watching the scene. Rhodey was closest to Peter, crouched down with his head in his hands and Tony could see him shudder every few seconds. 

“Queens?” Steve’s voice drew Tony’s eyes back to Peter, the teenagers’ eyes were now closed and Tony let out another sob.

“Pete. Pete. Wake Up. Peter, please.” Tony begged as he tried desperately not to touch Peter. 

Pepper gripped his hand tightly, and Clint had the other one just as tightly, neither of them letting Tony go. 

“He’s still breathing Tony. He is still breathing.” Steve tried to reassure Tony but he just shook his head, the tears flying everywhere.

He didn’t think he’d ever see the teenagers’ eyes open again. It was just a matter of time before the breaths stopped- the power coursing through Peter’s body would be too strong for even the teenager to handle. 

“He’s holding on Tony.” Steve spoke again. “He’s hanging on. Somehow he’s still hanging on.” 

“Where’s Bruce?” Clint yelled out. “Can’t he do something?!” 

“I’m here.” Bruce suddenly appeared in Tony’s vision, with Scott hurrying behind him. The second man took one look at Peter and dropped to his knees, tears forming in his eyes. 

“Can you do anything for him?” Steve motioned at Peter and Bruce shrugged helplessly


	4. Day 5- *Alt* Field Medicine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t realize that I did 3 of the alternate prompts in a row... but here we are.
> 
> This one does deal with Peter losing his arm- it’s not graphic and I don’t go into detail, but it that upsets or bothers you in any way, please please avoid this chapter.

“Can you do anything?” Clint asked and Bruce shrugged again. He leaned past Tony and Pepper to get a good look at the teenager, who was out cold. His breath was ragged, his chest hardly rising but Tony noted that it was still there. 

Bruce put his hand onto Peter’s chest and another one on an unburned patch of Peter’s neck before pulling away to carefully touch the teenagers arm where the stones were. 

  
“We need to get the stones off of him. I can’t imagine they are helping much.” Bruce announced and Tony looked at him.

“How exactly do you propose doing that?” He asked. “You’re the only one who touched them all besides Peter, and they hurt your arm.”

“You’re not going to like my idea.” Bruce replied and Tony raised his eyebrows. The tears were still streaming down his cheeks and hitting the teenagers’ lax face. “We need to cut off Peter’s arm. It’s the only way.”

“No!” Tony yelled instinctively. 

“Tony, it’s the best chance he has of survival. We can’t pull the stones out of the gauntlet, and they need to get off of Peter.” Bruce explained.

“How do you propose we do that exactly?” Rhodey called out. He had moved forward to stand behind Tony, and put a hand on the mans’ shoulder. “The compound is destroyed, and you have no medical supplies.”

“Field medicine?” Steve asked, and Bruce nodded. 

“You can’t do that!” Tony protested. “If it hurts him, I can’t let you do that.” Tony couldn’t stomach the thought of the teenager being even more hurt than he already was. 

“Tony, this could save his life. Isn’t that more important?” Bruce shot out. “If I don’t do anything, he will 100% die. He has a chance if I try to do something.”

“Again, what are you proposing?” Rhodey asked.

“I’m trying to think.” Bruce shot back harshly. “I could probably use one of the Wakandans weapons if I could somehow sanitize it.”

“Here.” A voice called out, and Tony glanced away from Peter to see TChalla running towards the with a younger girl who Tony assumed was Shuri. They were both carrying what looked like long sticks, and Shuri held a bottle.

“Strange just transported us to Wakanda. These can get the arm off, and they are sanitized. Shuri has something that will help the wound once you remove the arm.” TChalla explained.

“Okay, so we’re actually doing this.” Rhodey shot out and Tony gasped. 

“I need Peter to be held down. He is likely to fight me and he has super strength. Be careful, I don’t know if this power could be transferred over to you.” Bruce called out, as he took one of the weapons from TChalla. 

Steve and Bucky instantly stepped forward and each pressed down on one side of Peter’s body. Tony watched as Steve was careful not to press on any of the burned skin. He wasn’t sure he could watch the teenager lose his limb and he had to turn away. 

He turned his head to hide it in Pepper’s shoulder. She put her free arm around Tony’s back and held him there. 

“Okay, here goes.” Bruce said.

“I will transport you straight to Wakanda once you have taken care of it.” Tony heard Strange’s voice then, but he kept his head hidden in Pepper’s shoulder.

“Okay. Hold him down.” Bruce said and then there was silence before Peter suddenly screamed loudly. 

Tony flinched and Pepper’s arm tightened around him again. Peter’s voice cut off, and then there was a flurry of activity. Tony pulled his head away to see Bruce moving away from Peter, and saw Peter draped in Rhodey’s arms. 

“Wakanda.” Strange called out and then opened a portal. 

“Tony.” Rhodey said and Tony jumped up to reach Rhodey’s side. 

He decided he didn’t care anymore, and he put a hand onto Peter’s face. It was still horrific to look at, but the stones power was no longer there. Pepper held onto Tony’s hand, as they followed Rhodey through the portal and stepped into Wakanda. Bruce, Shuri and TChalla all stepped in right behind them, and then Tony lost track of everyone else who came through. 

They were swarmed by Wakandans and a bed came towards them. Rhodey set Peter down on the bed and Tony reached over to grab the teenagers’ remaining hand. He stared at Peter’s chest for a moment, making sure it was still moving as the teenagers’ hand felt too cold. He saw the movement, and let out a sigh of relief. The tears had lessened from the field. Peter had made it to Wakanda, and now they could see about getting him some proper care.

“This is unprecedented territory. We have no idea going forward on how this is going to affect him. It’s incredible he’s still alive really.” Tony could hear Bruce saying and he turned around to see him talking to some Wakandans who Tony assumed were medical.


	5. Day 6&7- Dragged Away & Isolation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this one's a bit shorter. Day 6 and 7 here.

“What do we think? What is the next step?” Tony heard voices around him but he stayed focused on the teenager lying still in front of him. He couldn’t look at his damaged side, just focused on the side of Peter that looked normal. 

“We need to get him into Shuri’s lab. All of our technology is there. Three of our main medical scientists survived what happened, and they are already in there, preparing to do what they can.” 

The stretcher moved underneath Tony and he panicked, grabbing a hold of Peter’s hand and clinging on.

“Tony, it’s okay. They are just moving him so that they can get a better look at him. You can go with him.” Pepper was at his side, assuring him and he nodded, lessening his grip slightly. The stretcher moved again and Tony moved with it. Peter’s head lolled slightly and Tony reached out his other hand to touch the side of his face and hold it steady. Rhodey put his hand on the other side, gentle in his touching of the boy’s damaged skin. They walked carefully next to the stretcher as Shuri and TChalla pulled it along, through multiple doors and then into a white lab. 

“Over there.” Shuri called out and the stretcher moved across the lab to one of the corners, where it stopped. Immediately people were surrounding them, loud voices discussing. Peter’s hand was yanked away from Tony, and he tried to grab it back, but Pepper was there and clutched it in her grip. He turned around to her, ready to argue but she shook her head. 

Tony glanced back to see Peter already attached to wires, and his vitals projected above him, showing numbers that were wrong for a human to be showing, vitals that Tony never wanted to see. 

“How is he still living?” Someone muttered and Tony whirled around to them, ready to shout back, but the face was kind and sympathetic and the surge of anger went away almost as quickly as it had come. He didn’t know if this person had survived or been snapped, and everyone in the room was clearly here for Peter, to try to help him.    
“Is the wound sanitized?” Another voice called out.

“It is. But it wouldn’t do harm to sanitize it again.” TChalla spoke up. 

“What did you do with the stones?” Steve spoke up and Tony saw him across the room. He hadn’t even realized that the man had followed them into the lab.

“Clint has them.” TChalla replied, and Tony shuddered. He never wanted to see those stones again, as long as he lived. If Peter survived, he would make the kid an arm, a strong and powerful arm that would work exactly how he wanted, that would enable him to still be Spiderman. If Peter wanted that. If he didn’t, they would come up with something different. He would give the kid anything he wanted, everything he wanted.

“Tony.” Pepper pulled on his arm, and he wasn’t prepared for it. He stumbled back from Peter slightly, and someone stepped in front of him, blocking his view of the kid.

“What. No.” He protested, putting an arm out to try to get back to the teenager. “I need to be with him.” 

Rhodey grabbed a hold of him and dragged him further back, and Tony’s view of Peter was completely obstructed. 

“Rhodey.” He pleaded, his voice coming out weaker than he intended. 

“They need to work on him, and then he needs to be isolated. No one knows what the stones did to him inside, and they need to get him in isolation to protect him, until they can figure this out and try to start him on the road to recovery.” Rhodey explained to him as he kept a hold on Tony’s arm. Tony tried pulling away, to get a look at Peter with Rhodey hung on tight. 

The group around Peter shifted, and then away from him. Tony got a quick glance at him before a barrier went up around the stretcher, and then Peter was completely hidden from him, behind the white cloth. 


	6. Day 8&9- Stab Wound & Shackled

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I kind of cheat with stab wound, but ah well. 
> 
> Here’s 8&9. This is as far as I got writing ahead sooooo I have a lot to write to keep up!!

As the barrier went up around Peter, Tony felt his energy suddenly give out as the adrenaline waned. The past hours had been filled with exuberance, fighting and then devastation, to now hints of hope, and his body simply couldn’t take it anymore. 

His legs gave out as his body finally gave out, and his knees hit the floor. He set out a hand to hold himself up from falling completely onto his face, and then a hand gripped his shoulder. He looked up to see Rhodey standing there. The man looked like Tony felt, completely wrecked and exhausted.

“Hey.” Tony greeted the other man.

“You need to lie down.” Rhodey replied, without greeting.

“I’m fine.” Tony replied.

“Keep telling yourself that. No one will believe it.” Rhodey replied, dryly and Tony gave him a look.

“I’m not leaving Peter.” Tony motioned to the secluded figure. 

“Tony, he’s isolated right now until they can figure out how to help him. He’s deeply unconscious, and there’s no saying when he’ll wake up.” Rhodey protested.

Tony searched Rhodey’s face at those words, trying to ensure that the man believed them, believed that Peter would wake up. 

Tony pulled his eyes away from his best friends’ to look around the room. It had significantly cleared out from the group that had come through from the Compound.

Tony and Rhodey were the two closest to where Peter lay, and he saw Pepper, Bruce and the Wakandans standing across the room. Pepper and Bruce were looking over at Tony while the Wakandans were all looking over data that was projected away from the screens. 

If Tony was in better shape, he would have been over there demanding to know exactly what the pictures and numbers showed, but he wasn’t entirely sure he could stand up.

“Tony.” Rhodey called, and Tony’s eyes drifted back to the man, who was still holding onto his shoulder and holding Tony up. 

“I’m not leaving Peter.” Tony repeated. He wouldn’t leave the teenager, not when he had just gotten him back. The last time he had turned his back on the kid, he had disappeared and Tony had had to live five years without him.

If Peter didn’t survive this, Tony knew he wouldn’t be able to get him back and he’d have to live the rest of his life without him. If he left Peter and something happened, Tony would never be able to forgive himself. 

“Tony-” Rhodey tried and Tony shook his head.

“Rhodey, I am not leaving him. If I do and something happens, it’ll be my fault.” Tony explained, and his best friends’ eyes softened.

“Tony, that’s not true at all. Peter making the decision to snap his fingers wasn’t your fault. He could do that and save everyone because you figured out time travel, and brought him back.” 

Rhodey kneeled down until he was kneeling in front of Tony. His eyes were tired, and haunted, and to Tony’s surprise, he felt his eyes welling up.

“Tony?” 

Tony didn’t reply to Rhodey’s question, bringing his hands up instead to press into his wet eyes. Rhodey brought his free hand up to Tony’s other shoulder.

“Tony, the kids’ strong. He’s going to get through this. I’m sure he will.” 

Tony just nodded as he kept his eyes covered. 

A sharp pain in his arm a moment later had him jerking them open a moment later as he pulled away from the pain. Bruce was next to him, a syringe in his uninjured hand. Tony hadn’t even heard him come over to him.

“Hey!” Tony protested as Bruce pulled away from him to deal with the syringe. “You stabbed me. That’s like a stab wound.”

“Don’t be dramatic. You’ve been stabbed, and this is nothing like that.” Bruce called back to Tony from across the room. Pepper knelt down on Tony’s other side and put a hand on his cheek. 

“You need to rest honey.” She said softly to him and Tony sighed. He could tell Bruce had hit him with a sedative, and it was already hitting him. 

He leaned back into Pepper’s arms, and she wrapped them around him, as he felt the heaviness hitting him. He didn’t want to sleep, he wanted to stay awake, but he couldn’t find the drug as much as he wanted to. 

“Peter-” He whispered, as his eyes closed.

“He’ll be fine Tony. Just sleep.” Pepper assured him, and Tony let the darkness take over.

-

When he opened his eyes, he could tell he wasn’t in Pepper arms anymore. There was softness under him, and he still felt heavy from the sedative. He turned his head on the pillow to see that he was still in the lab area, and he could see where Peter was from where he was lying. He didn’t know how much time had passed, but the cover around Peter was still up, and Tony couldn’t see beyond it. 

“Honey.” Pepper’s voice called, and he turned his head to the other side to see her. 

She smiled at him and Tony tried to raise his arms to her. There was a restraint against them, and he looked down to them. Soft leather restraints had him tied to the edges of the bed he was lying in, and experimental tugs did nothing to dislodge them.

“You tried to get up more than once to get to Peter.” Pepper spoke and Tony looked up at her. He didn’t remember any of that.

“I did?”

“You did.” Pepper nodded. “You were determined, and this was the only way to keep you resting, and Peter isolated. Your body is exhausted and you could hardly stand up.” 

“How is he?” Tony asked, glancing over to where Peter was lying.

“He’s holding on. You’ve been asleep for about 8 hours, and there hasn’t been very much change.” Pepper replied. “But he is still here honey, and I think at this point that he is going to stay.” 

If Tony had been more awake and less emotional, he would have accepted that, and not let his thoughts come out of his mouth

“You told him he could go.” 

Pepper’s face fell and Tony instantly felt guilty.

“Pep- i’m sorry, that wasn’t fair.” 

“No, it was. And you’re right. I was wrong in encouraging him to go Tony.” Tears formed in Pepper’s eyes, and Tony tried to yank against the restraints that shackled him to the bed again.

“He was in so much pain Tony, and I didn’t think it was possible for him to survive. I thought he needed permission to let go, and I thought no one else would give that to him. Tony, I’m sorry. I know how losing him would be for you, and I encouraged him to go.”

“Can- can you-” Tony motioned to the restraints and Pepper nodded. She leaned over him and pulled the leather restraints back until Tony’s hands were free. He immediately sat himself up and grabbed Pepper’s hands.

“Pep.” He started. “I know you care for Peter. I shouldn’t have said that.” 

“Tony. Pepper.” Bruce walked into the room, and then over to where Peter was.

“Bruce?” Tony’s heart immediately began racing, and Bruce turned back around to them.

“He’s okay Tony.” Bruce answered and Tony took a deep breath. “We actually think we can remove him from isolation.”

“Really?” Pepper asked and Bruce nodded.

“We need to keep anyone around him to a minimum, but he doesn’t need to be completely isolated anymore.” 

The barrier around Peter came down, and Tony finally got to see the teenager again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not sure that the Pepper & Tony convo came out exactly how I wanted it to...


	7. 10&11- Unconscious & Stitches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I very nearly copied the wrong days onto here.
> 
> I also forgot today was a posting day until about 10 minutes ago.

Pete.” Tony said softly as the barrier came down and he could see the teenager. He pushed himself up only to have Pepper push him back down onto the bed.

“Pep.” He protested and she shook her head, motioning towards Bruce who had turned around and was looking back at Peter. Peter’s vitals were above his head, and Tony still couldn’t figure out what was what exactly, but they were all red. 

“I take it the red isn’t a good thing?” He asked and Bruce shook his head without turning around.

“I’d be shocked if it turns green anytime soon, but he is improving slightly. It’s certainly not as bad as it was when we first came off the field.” Bruce picked up Peter’s wrist, and held it for a moment before setting it back onto the bed, before putting a hand on the teenagers’ still face. 

Tony could see Peter’s face, and it looked slightly pinker than it had when he had last seen it. His lips weren’t as pale, and his skin not as translucent. Tony could still see the side of his face burned horrifically.

“Can anything be done about the side of his face? His ear?” Pepper voiced the question before Tony could, and he knew she had been looking at the same area on Peter’s face. Bruce’s hands halted for a moment, and then he turned around to finally look at the two of them.

“The Wakandans think that they have something they can do.” Bruce informed them. “It can’t be done yet. He has a lot of other recovering to do before they can even attempt to work on his face.”

“Are they doing anything now? Or is it up to Peter’s healing?” Pepper asked.

“This bed is sending wakandan medicine through up to Peter. I know a lot about medicine, but I don’t properly understand what they have here. It has made a lot of improvement in Peter though, even in the last few hours.” Bruce explained. “There’s been a lot of improvement from the radiation inside. It stopped the spread, and has even started healing inside.”

“That’s wonderful!” Pepper cried out. 

“He’s definitely not out of the woods yet, there’s still a lot that could go wrong but it’s a lot better than it was.” Bruce replied.

“What are we looking at Bruce?” Tony finally found his voice. “What complications are we looking at?”

“There could be anything Tony. While it is healing and receding, he has been hit with an uncomprendable amount of radiation. This could lead to any symptoms from radiation poisoning. This could lead to sores, hair loss, inflammation, fever, confusion, loss of consciousness, dehydration or swelling among other things. We are working on the dehydration, but his temperature has been rising despite our best efforts. I don’t think it will get into the deadly regions, but we are on the watch for it.”

Bruce walked over to the other side of Peter, the side that the limb was missing. It made Tony wince to see it. He could see where the arm had been cut, and Bruce leaned over it with what looked like a knife in his hand. 

“What are you doing?” Tony called out to Bruce. 

“I’m cutting the stitches away. While you were asleep, we stitched up his arm but it didn’t do much to help, so I’m cutting them away.” 

Tony continued looking over at Bruce as the man leant over Peter. Tony glanced down at Peter, and found himself watching the teenagers’ chest. Peter was breathing much more steadily than he had been, the blankets up and over his chest, but moving up and down with each breath he took. Peter’s face was still far too still for Tony’s liking.

“Thank you for everything that you are doing Bruce.” Pepper said softly and Tony nodded his agreement.

“It’s not that much really. The Wakandans have done most of it, I’m just trying to keep up.” Bruce said wryly. “Their medical advancements are far beyond ours.”

Peter started shifting slightly on the bed and Tony’s heart leapt.

“Bruce?” He called out to the other man, and Bruce put his hand back on Peter’s face. Tony saw one of the numbers increasing up slowly.

“It’s the fever I mentioned. It’s rising.” Bruce replied. 


	8. Day 12&13- Fever and *Alt* "Don't Move"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop. Just about made today's/tomorrow's prompt in time.

“What temperature is it at?” Pepper asked as Peter started to writhe around on the bed.

“103.” Bruce pointed up at the numbers projected above the bed, that were starting to increase.

“Can you do anything?” Pepper moved away from Tony to stand nearer to Peter, where Tony wanted to be. He sat up on the bed, his head swimming slightly as he sat up too quickly. He waited for a moment for the dizziness to clear, and then swung around his legs to sit up properly.

“No.” Bruce commanded him, not even glancing up, but Tony ignored him. 

“No.” Bruce repeated as Tony set his feet onto the floor and started to push up.

“Yes.” Tony replied.

“Lie back down, now.” Bruce responded.

“No.” Tony said. 

“You’re weak Tony.” Pepper hurried over to his side.

“Yeah, and?” 

“You’re going to fall over if you stand up.” Bruce warned but Tony decided to ignore him. Pepper put a hand out to him as he pushed himself all the way up, and he grabbed it as the dizziness swung over him. He sat back down onto the bed and steadied himself until the dizziness receded.

“I told you.” Bruce spoke after a moment. The man glanced up from Peter’s side, concern all over his face. “You really need to get some rest that isn’t a drugged sleep.” 

“What about you Bruce? Your arm looks hurt.” Pepper asked and Bruce adjusted the sling on his arm. 

“It’ll heal, or it won’t.” Bruce shrugged. “ I’m more focused on Peter right now.” Bruce looked back down at Peter who was still shifting around in the bed. 

“I’ll rest once Peter is better.” Tony announced and Bruce glanced back up.

“You realize that will be a while before he is actually well. He’s improving, but he has a long way to go Tony. This is uncharted territory.”

“I would just like to point out that getting the stones and getting everyone back was also uncharted territory.” Tony remarked and both Pepper and Bruce glared at him. “Not that it worked out how anyone wanted.”

“That’s not exactly true.” Pepper spoke up. “Peter getting hurt definitely wasn’t something anyone wanted, but everyone did come back. That was the outcome that was wanted wasn’t it?”

“It was.” Tony agreed. “Although you know I did it mostly for him.”

Tony glanced at Peter who was kicking his legs irritably on the bed. Bruce put his uninjured hand on Peter’s leg, which caused the teenager to kick his legs again, his eyes scrunching as he did so. Bruce patted Peter’s leg and the teenager softly whined, as he shifted the leg Bruce was touching. 

“Is that hurting him?” Pepper asked and Bruce moved his hand.

“I’m unsure if it’s actually hurting him, but it might be wise if we go back to not touching him for now. I would imagine he might be sensitive to all touch at the moment.” Bruce answered. 

“Is there a possibility for him to spread any of the power that hurt him to anyone around him?” Pepper asked.

“Not anymore. The stones are gone and the damage is all inward.” Bruce replied. “The gauntlet is being handled right now.”

“Where is everyone else?” Tony asked. “Where is the Gauntlet?”

“Around. TChalla and Shuri had a lot to catch up on with the Queen, and there were reunions happening. I know Steve is with Bucky and Sam and Clint was talking to Laura and his family earlier. They were having a hard time understanding that Nat wasn’t ever going to come back.” Bruce responded. 

“Is there no way to bring Natasha back?” Pepper asked and Tony shook his head. He hadn’t fully been able to process that the assassin was gone, there only being a short time by the lake to try to understand it before Thanos had attacked the Compound and the battle had begun. Tony knew that there wasn’t a way to bring her back though, with her death being tied so closely to a stone.

“She didn’t disappear like everyone else. She sacrificed herself for a stone.” Tony explained.

“I don’t think Clint will ever get over that.” Bruce said sadly. “He’s already said it should have been him to be the one to die multiple times.” 

“I don’t think his family would agree with that.” Pepper stated. 

“I know Laura already told him as much.” Bruce agreed. 

“Once everything has been settled, we should have a funeral for her.” Pepper suggested. “I know there’s no body but something.” 

Tony nodded from the bed he was still sitting on. He knew that once Peter was healed and that he had time to think, that the loss of Nat would hit him much deeper. She had been the one he had seen the most in the 5 year gap, and especially when they were trying to get the stones back. He wished he had been able to chat with her more before they went back in time, but no one had considered any of them would die in the process of getting the stones. 

“Can I sit next to him?” He motioned his head towards Peter. The teenager was still shifting on the bed, but the numbers above his head hadn’t shifted either way.

“If you actually sit, yes.” Bruce replied. Tony nodded and pushed himself up off the bed, Pepper’s hand coming up to assist. He took a step, pleased to see that there was no dizziness. He walked over to Peter’s bed and Bruce all but shoved Tony down into the chair on the side. Tony lifted a hand towards Peter and then put it back down. 

The teenagers’ eyes scrunched up again, and as Tony watched, they half-opened.

“Peter!” He called out, heart pounding. Bruce and Pepper both joined him at the side of the bed as Peter’s head turned towards Tony. 

“Pete.” Tony called out again, and Peter blinked slowly. His eyes were only half-open and he looked dazed. 

“Oh honey.” Pepper breathed from Tony’s side and Peter’s eyes flickered over to her. They were on the side of Peter that wasn’t damaged, but when Bruce said Peter’s name from the other side, Peter didn’t respond or even show that he had heard anything. 

“Don’t worry.” Bruce said when both Pepper and Tony looked at him. “When the Wakandans work on Peter’s face, we’ll let them know he can’t hear from this side.”

Peter shifted on the bed, whining softly as he did so and Tony shushed him.

“Don’t move Pete. You’re alright.” He said soothingly. The teenager shifted again and whined softly as he did so. “Pete, lie still. Don’t move kid.” 

Peter whined again on the bed, and Tony brought his hand up again. Peter’s arm shifted and Tony took that as a sign to grab the teenagers’ hand. He squeezed as gently as he could, to make Peter aware that he was there, but not to hurt him at all.

“You’re okay Pete.” Tony reassured him again, and Peter whined slightly. “You’re just a little hurt bud.”

Peter’s eyes opened fully as he looked at Tony, and the man stared back at him. His eyes were red, and he looked confused and dazed. 

“Hi Peter.” Pepper smiled but Peter kept his eyes on Tony.

“Mister Sta-” Peter attempted quietly and Tony squeezed his hand gently. 

“Hi Kid.” He greeted, and Peter tried to smile at him. He whimpered when the motion caused his damaged skin to move and Tony shushed him. 

“Go back to sleep Peter. You need to keep resting.” Bruce had moved over to stand behind Tony, and Peter’s eyes closed in response. As Tony held his hand, it went limp and then his breaths evened out again as he fell back into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo! Peter's finally awake.
> 
> Much more whump to come though. More emotional for sure, and then some physical as well. :) Still plenty of the month to go.


	9. Day 14- Tear-Stained

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I struggled a bit with this one.
> 
> Oh, and in this AU- May didn't get snapped.

As Peter went back to sleep, Tony took a deep breath. It caught in his chest, and he saw Pepper and Bruce glance at him. Peter’s hand remained still in Tony’s hand, and he tried to take another breath. The teenagers’ skin felt much warmer than it should as the fever stuck around. 

“Tony?” Bruce asked, and he tried to take another breath. He could tell things were starting to catch up with him now that he had seen the teenagers’ eyes open. The breath caught in his chest again and small noise came out his throat unintentionally. He coughed to try to cover it up, aware that he wasn’t fooling Bruce or Pepper. 

He tried to take another breath and when this one caught, a louder noise came out of his throat. Pepper grabbed his hand that wasn’t in Peter’s, and he turned to her. There was concern in her eyes as she looked Tony over. 

“Hon?” She asked and tears suddenly sprang into Tony’s eyes. His hands were both occupied so he couldn’t do anything as the wet trickled out and down his cheeks. Pepper reached out a hand to wipe away the tears and left her hand on Tony’s cheek. 

“Tony, he’s going to be okay. He’s sleeping naturally now, that’s a good thing.” Bruce assured and Tony nodded. He knew this was a natural sleep, which was mostly the reason that he was upset. He realized that he had been holding everything inside, not necessarily comprehending or accepting anything, but now that Peter was no longer unwillingly unconscious, things were catching up to him. 

“I know.” He muttered to Bruce. More tears spilled over, and the wetness streaked down his face, onto his neck and then into his shirt, staining it with tears.

“Tony.” Pepper said softly and then the tears erupted. He pulled his hand away from Peter’s and as he did so, the teenager’s face scrunched up and he whimpered slightly.

“Just a moment kid.” He whispered as he wiped at his face, trying to stop the tears. He put his hand over his eyes for a moment and then his chest heaved, and the sobs erupted. Pepper put her arms around him to hug him, and he leant into her chest. 

“You’re okay.” Pepper whispered to him, and he just breathed against her, his hands at his side. He shifted slightly so that he could grab Peter’s hand again, but let Pepper keep her arms wrapped around him. The teenager’s face relaxed when Tony took a hold of his hand again. He squeezed Peter’s hand gently as he tried to collect himself, but it was too late. The sobs erupted out of his chest, and then out of his mouth as the tears completely spilled over. He pulled back from Pepper slightly to put his hand over his eyes, and then leant back against her. She rested her head on the top of his, and whispered softly to him.

Tony could hear Bruce rustling around them as he remained in Pepper’s arms but the other man didn’t say anything. 

“It’s okay.” Pepper whispered again as Tony sobbed. It felt like a release of everything- traveling back in time, seeing his father, getting the stones, losing Natasha, getting Peter back, getting everyone else back, and then almost losing Peter right after getting him back. He’s exhausted, having not rested much in the last few days, focused on getting everyone back and then fighting Thanos again. The drugged sleep he was forced into didn’t really do much for his overall exhaustion and the devastation he’s feeling for Natasha.

The door swung open a moment later, startling them all as it crashed against the door. Tony pulled away from Pepper to see May Parker standing there.

“Sorry!” She cried out as she grabbed the door, pulling it away from the door. Tony could see Rhodey standing behind her.

“How did you get here?” Bruce asked her.

“Strange.” Rhodey replied and Bruce nodded. 

May moved away from the door towards where Peter, Pepper and Tony were. Her face was pale and Tony could see that her eyes were red. She put a hand up to her mouth when she saw Peter lying on the bed, and stopped short.

“May, he’s okay. He’s going to pull through.” Pepper assured her softly and May nodded. 

Tony went to pull his hand out of Peter’s so that May could hold it but Peter whined softly and gripped Tony’s hand tighter.

“Oh my god.” May whispered as she stood in place. The woman hadn’t been snapped, and while Tony had seen her quite a few times in the last five years, he hadn’t seen her for a few months. The two of them spending time together had reminded each other of Peter too much, and they had both acknowledged that it was getting too hard. Morgan loved May almost as much as she loved Happy. 

“Oh shit. Where’s Morgan?” Tony suddenly thought of his child, and looked at Pepper.

“She’s still with Happy. She’s fine.” Pepper replied softly and Tony relaxed minutely. 

“Oh my god.” May whispered again. Rhodey gave her a slight, gentle push and she started walking over to the bed. She stopped right next to Tony and Pepper, putting her hand on Peter’s arm. Tony didn’t want to pull his hand from Peter’s.

“You got him back. Tony. You got him back.” May turned to Tony and seemed about ready to throw herself at him.

“He did.” Rhodey agreed. 

“You got him back.” May repeated. Her eyes were swimming as much as Tony’s. The last five years had been awful for both of them, missing Peter more than anything. The woman had been left alone after Peter snaped, although Tony knew there was something going on with her and Happy even if no one wanted to admit it.

“He lost his arm though? Strange said he was hurt but not that he lost his arm.” May asked, motioning towards Peter.

“Did Strange tell you what he did?” Bruce asked and May shook her head.

“He saved the universe.” Bruce replied.

“Of course he did.” May sighed, smiling slightly. 

“He snapped the stones and the gauntlet. We don’t know yet exactly what consequences that will bring. He’s got a fever right now but it’s holding steady.” Bruce explained. May stroked her hand down Peter’s arm and the teenager stirred slightly underneath her, and then opened his eyes.

“Hi baby.” May said softly, and Peter blinked at her.

“May.” He whispered and May nodded. Peter’s hand tightened in Tony’s again and he looked the teenager in the eyes. He still looked groggy and dazed from the fever and exhaustion, as well as whatever repercussions the gauntlet was sending through him.

“Mis-” He started and Tony cut him off.

“Nope. No more Mister Stark. You call me Tony or nothing else.” Tony tried jokingly but he felt a few tears slip down his cheeks. He didn’t think he would ever be able to hear Peter call him Mister Stark again without thinking about the teenager disappearing. 

“Oh Peter, it’s so good to see you honey.” May said softly. “I missed you so much.”

Peter’s eyes welled up, and he shifted and then moaned on the bed. He kicked his legs around the blankets on the bed and whimpered. The tears started to streak down his cheeks and he whimpered a second time.

“You’re alright Pete.” Tony squeezed Peter’s hand the teenager blinked more tears down his cheeks.

“Hurt.” Peter whispered in response.

“I know bud. I know it hurts.” Tony replied. May stroked Peter’s arm and he turned his head slowly back to her, blinking slowly and heavily. 

“Go back to sleep baby. We’ll all be here when you are.” She whispered to him, and Peter’s eyelids slowly closed. He let out a deep breath and then relaxed on the bed again. 


	10. Day 15- Scars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I don't like this one at all but I had to get this one out. It's terribly short. I'm a bit behind on writing and didn't have this even written half an hour ago.

“I can’t believe he’s here.” May whispered softly. She shifted slightly as she stood next to the bed and looked at Rhodey as he brought over a chair for her. She smiled at him and then sat herself down. Tony glanced over at her as she gazed at Peter’s face. She looked tired, and her face was glistening in the lights that were shining in the room from the tears that had been streaming down her face.

“You should believe it, because he is.” Rhodey replied. “They all are. Everyone has come back.”

“What’s it like out there?” Tony asked. He couldn’t imagine that bringing everyone back was going to be easy and simple. It had been five years, and people had died, been born, moved on from losing their loved ones. Well, some people would have moved on at least, but he imagined there were many people like himself and May, who had never really truly moved on. Had tried but never really succeeded.

“A mess.” Rhodey responded simply. “Strange was in New York and he said it’s chaotic. Some accidents happened and people reappeared in some awkward places. He’s there with Steve, Sam, and Thor trying to sort things out.” Rhodey quickly looked at Tony. “Do Not blame yourself for that though. That’s not yours or Peter’s faults.”

Tony opened his mouth to dispute and Rhodey just glared at him, as if daring him to even open his mouth. He shook his head slightly as his eyes narrowed and Tony just held his lips together.

“Tell me what he’s dealing with right now.” May commanded Bruce who nodded and pointed above Peter’s head to the vitals.

“He’s got a fever right now, but it’s staying steady at the moment, so I’m not worried about it right now. If it starts rising, then i’ll be concerned. We really need to wait for him to wake up properly to really determine where his mental state and physical state is at. We believe he’s beyond the worst of it now however.” 

“His arm?” May asked

“We had to amputate it. But it was clean and at the moment, he hasn’t shown infection signs. But that could be the reason for the fever, so I am keeping an eye on that.” Bruce replied. 

“There’s plenty of technology out there that can assist Peter.” Rhodey spoke up. “Even here in Wakanda, but I highly doubt Tony will let anyone else build Peter an arm.” 

The adults all laughed and Tony smiled slightly. If Peter wanted an arm, he was building him an arm. He would make it in Spiderman colors and add anything into it the teenager would want.

“I do need to check on his chest.” Bruce pulled down the blankets from Peter’s bare chest and none of them could help themselves from peering down. Bruce carefully pulled each of the bandages back from the skin, looking underneath each one as he did so. Tony could see the damaged skin all across Peter’s chest, and the scars that were looping around his chest.

“Is that from the stones?” May called out as she stared at Peter’s chest as well. 

“It is.” Bruce nodded. “He has some scars down his legs as well, but you can’t see those at the moment. They should heal up with time, and with Peter’s healing capabilities that he has.”

“Bruce, why does that one look so much redder than the others?” Pepper pointed out and Tony could see the scars that she was looking at. Towards the bottom of his chest, there was a patch of scars that were red and looking oozy. 

“Shit.” Bruce swore and pulled back the rest of the bandages from Peter’s chest.

“Bruce?” Tony asked, his heart immediately starting to race. 

“I spoke way too soon. That’s an infection. Likely the reason why he has a fever.” Bruce replied. He started messing around with equipment and Tony looked at May. She had her hand just above Peter’s chest, tracing along the scars without actually touching them, as they crisscrossed across Peter’s torso and into his shoulder. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just when it looked like Peter was in the clear... mwah haha.


	11. Day 16- *Alt* Infection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a bit derailed with this one. I also slightly rearranged how the rest of this is going. Infection wasn't actually supposed to be this day. I switched it with something else and that prompt will show up on day #22 as it works better with the story. There's still one day that i'm trying to figure out how to get that prompt in.
> 
> Also, hello to all of you who have just recently joined this. :)

“Bruce?!” Tony yelped out as Bruce messed with the equipment. He glanced up to see that the vitals above Peter had crept up slightly and that the fever had gone up by .2.

“Bruce!” He repeated quickly as the man didn’t say anything.

“Hold on a minute Tony.” Bruce replied harshly. Bruce pressed a button and there was a slight buzzing noise, and then a few moments later a few Wakandans walked through the door. Bruce turned to them and started talking quickly, leaving the four other adults waiting helplessly. Peter was still on the bed, his face more flushed on the undamaged skin than it had been a few moments before.

“What’s going on?” May asked after a few more moments of Bruce and the Wakandans talking and the only response she got was a slight shake of the head from one of the Wakandans. Tony could only sit silently with her as Bruce and the Wakandans bustled about. His head was ripped out of Peter’s and he let it hang at his side, not even attempting to hold it up. Peter’s head lolled on the pillow as he was jostled by the people gathered around his bedside.

“Do you think it’s from the amputation or the radiation?” Bruce asked the closest Wakandan to him. She was running her hands on Peter’s chest, over the scars and paying careful attention to the scars at the bottom that Bruce had identified as being infected.

“Radiation.” She replied without hesitation. “Our tools are highly sterilized. There is no possibility for it to be that. It has to be radiation.”

“What do you do about that?” Rhodey spoke up from behind Tony, his voice firm and commanding an answer.

“The only thing that we can do right now is give him some more antibiotics and pain medicine to try to reduce the amount of discomfort he’s feeling. We will likely have to go in and do surgery to figure out what exactly is going on in there very soon, but for now the antibiotics will have to do.”

As Bruce talked, Peter suddenly jerked awake on the bed. 

“Pete.” Tony said quickly as he stood up and leaned over Peter, to try to catch the teenagers’ eyes. Peter shifted on the bed, and looked directly into Tony’s eyes. The brown eyes were glazed over and dull as Tony looked into them. Peter’s eyes were only half open but he smiled slightly at Tony as he saw him.

“Hey kid.” He greeted him and Peter moved his lips slightly, and then groaned faintly.

“I know it hurts kiddo.” Tony said trying to be soothing. He hated seeing the eyes he had gotten used to seeing so lively and full of life so dulled and glazed over. Peter just groaned again as he moved his lips slightly. 

“Does his mouth hurt?” Pepper asked leaning over behind Tony’s shoulder. “Is that why he’s groaning?”

The Wakandan doctor leaned over to Peter and carefully pulled his lower lip back. Peter groaned sharply and sucked in a deep breath as he jerked on the bed. Tony looked over to see that the teenager’s lip was covered in ulcers and he took in his own deep breath. The woman let Peter’s lip go back carefully but he still groaned as his lip went back into place. 

“We can get some cream for that, to help ease up on the pain a little.” She said and motioned to one of the other wakandans. The second woman grabbed what looked like a tube to Tony, and then pulled Peter’s lip back again before she took some of the lotion and rubbed it on Peter’s lip. He cried out in pain, tensing up on the bed, tears leaking out of his eyes before he relaxed.

“That’s better.” The woman said as she pulled away, and Peter shifted back into the pillows. He moved his bottom lip and didn’t make a noise as he did so. 

“What about the infection?” May asked, as she motioned back towards Peter’s torso. 

Peter’s eyes connected with Tony’s again, and he was relieved to see that they looked a little more open, though not much more alert than before. He moved his mouth as if to say something and Tony shushed him.

“You’re alright kiddo. We’re all here, and Bruce and the doctors are working on taking the pain away.” Tony explained softly. 

“Were those always there? He didn’t seem like he was in pain before?” Pepper asked.

“They could have just developed in there. The cream should help for now and if they get worse, we can take a look at that. I am more concerned about the infection in his chest right now.” Bruce replied. 

“Here.” The first woman came over with a needle and what looked like an IV bag to Tony. She carefully pulled at Peter’s hand until it was in front of her and then quickly stuck the needle in a vein before setting it back down. The bag was set on a rack so it hung down as it dripped into Peter’s vein.

“Antibiotics.” She explained. “They’ll try to stop the infection until we can go in and do some surgery.”

“When do you imagine that you’ll do the surgery?” May asked and Bruce shrugged slightly.

“At least a few hours. Peter has made tremendous improvements in the last few hours but he’s still very weak. We might even wait until tomorrow.”

Tony realized that he had no idea what time it was. The battle had been in the late afternoon and he had been out for at least 8 hours but he didn’t know how much time had even transpired between them, or how much time had passed since he had woken up. The curtains pulled over the windows were very strong and didn’t show any indication of whether it was day or night. 

“Will you be okay to wait that long? If there’s an infection, shouldn’t you go in now?” May questioned.

“We’ll keep an eye on it.” Bruce replied.

“Not that I’m questioning you Bruce but didn’t you say the fever was nothing, and then it became something after you said you would keep an eye on it. What if this becomes much more of a something before you do surgery?” Rhodey asked a little harshly and Bruce sighed.

“I won’t be the one doing the surgery, but normally I would agree with you. However, Peter is extremely weak, and I don’t think he would do well if we took him into surgery now. He needs to at least try to gain some more strength before he is taken into surgery.”

“He is right.” The first woman said. “He is far too weak right now, and would likely not make it through.”

That comment made Tony grab Peter’s hand again, aware of the IV that was in it. Peter merely blinked at him slowly as he did so.

“I think we should let Peter get some more rest for now.” Bruce suggested. He motioned towards Pepper, Tony, May and Rhodey and then towards the door.

“I think someone should stay with him.” Pepper shot back. “We shouldn’t leave him alone.” 

“May-” Tony started as he started to shift to get up. She should be the one to get to sit with Peter. 

“No.” She quickly shook her head. “You stay with him for now. I’ll monopolize him later. I want to see around Wakanda. But you tell me right away if anyone goes south.” May commanded and Tony nodded. He would tell her in a heartbeat if anything went wrong with Peter.

“We’ll be back in a little while.” The doctors headed out of the room, followed by Bruce. Pepper lent down to give Tony a kiss on his forehead while May ran her hand down Peter’s arm. He shifted to look up at her, smiling slightly as he did. She smiled back at him and then left the room with Pepper and Rhodey.

“Just me and you Pete.” Tony said to the teenager once it was just the two of them, and Peter let his eyes drift shut. Tony laughed slightly.

“I’m that boring huh kid?” He said softly. “That’s alright.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh more whumpage to come!! Including some Tony whumpage!


	12. Day 17&18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't love this one but I'm honestly super sick right now and just typed this one out. Not 100% sure if it's even that coherent and if it's not, I apologize. 
> 
> Be back on Saturday with more Whump.

Peter’s eyes remained closed and after a while Tony figured he was asleep. He was alone in the room, and slightly bored. His mind was antsy and he needed to do something more than just sit there. He had no idea where his phone was, likely destroyed when the compound had been destroyed. He was glad that he had taken the bots to the cabin and wasn’t looking at having to try to find them again, after the Malibu mansion had been destroyed. He didn’t have that many belongings at the Compound, which he was happy about, but he knew most of Nat’s belongings would have been destroyed and there wouldn’t be much to remember the woman by.

Peter’s hand was limp and still in Tony’s, and he carefully pulled his hand away, resting Peter’s hand on the side of the bed, careful to not dislodge the IV. Peter’s fever was still at the same temperature, and Tony was relieved to see that it hadn’t continued going up. He knew the teenager ran hot on a regular day but even 103 was more than what Tony was comfortable with. 

He carefully leaned over to pull at Peter’s lip, the teenager not even stirring and was pleased to see that the ulcers had lessened in their redness. He let Peter’s lip go and then turned around in his chair to look around the room properly.

The curtains were pulled across, preventing him from seeing what time of day or night it was but there were plenty of other interesting things in the room. There were additional beds than Peter’s but they looked like they hadn’t been disturbed for some time. 

Tony pulled away from the bed and got up to wander over to the other end of the room. There were numerous machines there, and he started prodding at the screens, careful to not actually touch anything. This was way more advanced than he was used to and he didn’t want to touch anything that might be attached to Peter, or helping the kid.

His head spun slightly as he prodded at the screens, and he was reminded that in addition to not knowing the time, he had no idea when he had last eaten or had anything to drink. He had gone long periods of time without sustenance so he wasn’t concerned. Once the teenager was doing better, he would focus more on that but Peter was the main priority right now. 

He knew that at some point, he would need to go back to New York to help Steve, Thor, and Strange but that could also wait. The rest of the world didn’t really matter much at the moment. 

Peter suddenly screamed and Tony jerked back around to him. His eyes were still closed but he was shifting on the bed, his hand in a fist and his legs kicking slightly. The scream was muffled as Peter’s mouth wasn’t fully open, but it was still not a noise that Tony wanted to hear.

“Kid.” Tony called out as he hurried back over to Peter’s side. He grabbed Peter’s hand and tried to get him to unclench his fist. Peter was weak so it was easy for Tony to do so, and he massaged at Peter’s wrist. Peter groaned and lightly kicked his legs. 

“Pete.” Tony called out again and Peter’s eyes jerked open. He made eye contact with Tony again and Tony smiled, as he continued to massage Peter’s wrist gently.

“Tony.” Peter whispered softly, mouth still not fully open but the word very clear to Tony.

“Hi bud. How are you feeling?”

To Tony’s surprise, Peter started crying, tears flowing down his cheeks. He brought up his other hand to wipe at Peter’s face, and then wiped his hand on the blankets to dry it off before wiping back at Peter’s face again.

“What hurts kid? Why are you crying?” 

“Everything.” Peter moaned and Tony frowned. He continued to massage at Peter’s hand as the tears streaked down. 

“Tony.

“Yeah Pete?” 

“Stay with me?” Peter asked quietly and Tony instantly nodded. Peter’s eyes hadn’t stopped welling up but the tears weren’t flowing over and down his cheeks any longer. His eyes looked tired and hooded.

“Of course bud. I’m here until you’re feeling better. Unless May kicks me out and demands time with you when she’s seen all that Wakanda holds. There’s a strong chance of that. She’s missed you buddy. We all have, very much.” Tony smiled at Peter and felt delighted when Peter smiled slightly back. It was still a hesitant smile and Tony figured Peter’s lip was still painful, even with the cream helping the ulcers become less inflamed. 

“How does your mouth feel?” He asked Peter and there was a pause before the teenager responded. 

“Sore.” 

“I would imagine.” Tony nodded. “It’s pretty inflamed in there bud. Does your chest or stomach hurt at all?”

“Yes.” Peter responded quickly. 

“Bruce is going to take you in soon for surgery for that, okay?” Tony explained. “They’re just waiting for you to get a bit stronger before they do that though. So you’re stuck with me right now.”

“Can I have a hug?” Peter asked and Tony felt terrible as he shook his head. He didn’t want to hurt Peter anymore by jostling the teenager or running any risk that he could transfer anything over to Peter. He hadn’t showered since the battle and while he was protected by the suit, he imagined that his clothes weren’t the cleanest and he was desperate not to transfer anything over to Peter.

“I’m sorry kiddo. Can’t risk anything.” He shook his head, and Peter’s eyes spilled over again. He took a gasping breath and Tony felt even more awful. 


	13. Day 19- *Alt* Touch-Starved

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay this is actually my least favorite one of all of them, but i’m still really sick and just have no energy or proper capability for writing.  
Hopefully this thing passes soon...

“I’m sorry bud.” Tony apologized as Peter’s eyes filled up again. He was too afraid to touch Peter more than his hand, worried that the infection could get worse. He knew that wasn’t totally likely but he didn’t want to even potentially cause anything.

He was already far too worried about the kid going back into surgery, and wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if he harmed the teenager even more. 

“Please.” Peter begged softly and Tony shook his head.

“I’m really sorry bud. I can’t until after you go back into surgery. I know you love hugs but I can’t right now.” Tony refrained from telling Peter that he wanted nothing more than to actually give him a proper hug. 

He hadn’t had a proper Peter hug in 5 years, but he knew he had to and could wait a little while longer for that hug. 

“Should I tell you about the last 5 years?” Tony asked, and Peter nodded. Tears were trickling down his face and Tony adjusted the blankets on Peter’s legs.

“So i have another kid. Her name is 

Morgan and Spiderman is her favorite superhero. She likes Spiderman more than Iron Man which is just totally believable, you’re the best of us. She’s going to be so excited to finally meet you.” 

“You have a kid? She knows me?” Peter asked. His speech sounded clearer than before and there was no flinching when his mouth moved.

“I have  _ another  _ kid Pete. You’re my kid too. And she does, she knows all about Spiderman and she loves him. She makes me get every Spiderman thing she finds.” Tony smiled as Peter’s eyes showed total shock. 

“Has it really been five years?” Peter asked.

“It has kiddo. It’s been a long time but i’m really so glad you’re back.” Having Morgan had definitely made Tony more open and affectionate and made him realize just how he hadn’t been like that with Peter before. But that was changing now and he was going to give the kid all the assurance and affection he needed.

“May? Ned and MJ?” Peter asked and Tony understood what he was asking.

“May didn’t snap but she was okay. I know she’s glad to see you too kiddo. Your friends were snapped too.”

“Can I see them?” Peter asked and Tony shook his head.

“Not yet Pete. We need to get you a bit better before we can let them see you. But May can text them, if the cell towers are working?” Tony had no idea how things in the city were working or even if cellphones were working properly. It would be a huge shock for everyone to come back after five years of getting used to them all being gone. 

“How old is Morgan?” Peter changed the subject after nodding at Tony’s question. 

He made a mental note to himself to remind himself to have May try to reach out to Peter’s friends. Tony hadn’t thought that much about them in the past few years, only having checked in the beginning to see if they had survived, and then having seen them both on the disappeared list. 

“She’s four and a bit.” He replied. “She is her mother's daughter.” Tony laughed slightly and Peter smiled. 

Tony opened his mouth to keep talking but May and Pepper walking into the room cut him off. Peter lit up when he saw May and Tony smiled at Pepper.

“May.” Peter greeted and May beamed.

“Hi sweetie.” May smiled. 

“We have a task for you Peter.” Pepper said and Peter raised his eyebrows. The damaged skin on his face ended just to the side of his eyebrow. 

“We need you to get this one to lie down and rest!” May pointed at Tony who sputtered.

“Hey!” He cried out. “I don’t like this ganging up on me!” 

“Sorry.” May said unsympathetically.

“Tony-“ Peter started and Tony just sighed. He didn’t want to leave Peter’s side but he was tired, and emotionally overwhelmed.

“Fine.” Tony replied. He could see surprise on Pepper’s and May’s faces as his agreeing so readily. 

“Only because I don’t want him to beg.” Tony motioned to Peter. 

Tony pulled his hand from Peter’s, and May took his place right away. He stepped away from the bed to head over to one of the other ones. 

He lay down on the bed, not bothering to pull up the covers and lay on his side so he could still see Peter. He was lying on Peter’s bad side so he could see the damaged skin clearly from where he was and he hated it. The skin was blackened and red, and looked very dead. Tony was so relieved that it hadn’t gone past Peter’s eyebrow and his eye wasn’t damaged but he was concerned about Peter’s ear and the loss of hearing. He added that to his mental list.

He continued staring at Peter’s face until the tiredness hit him, his body recognizing that he was lying down and deciding it was time to rest. His body felt heavy and he finally let his eyes close. 


	14. Day 20&21- Trembling and Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told myself I wouldn't fall behind, and then I fell behind. This should have been posted yesterday.
> 
> Warning- this does deal with a death. It's not really a death as you'll see, but it is written in there.

_ The smoke blinded Tony as he tried to look around the battlefield. It was chaos with the smoke, fire and yells of battle. Tony could see various Avengers, Wakandans, and Sorcerers alike, fighting against Thanos’ army. He knew Pepper and Rhodey were here, somewhere flying around and blasting the opposing enemy with all their might. _

_ Peter was here too, Tony had seen the kid but hadn’t had the chance to properly talk to him. He had Peter’s vitals in his helmet, something he hadn’t had for five years, and something that he was still wrapping his head around. The kid was back. Everyone else was too but Tony’s focus was Peter. _

_ Scott tore past him, stomping on members of Thanos’ army as he did so, not even hesitating in the slightest as he went by. Tony blasted two of the fighters who were headed towards him and then another that he noticed advancing behind a Wakandan. The man turned around, nodded his head at Tony and then took off. Steve and Thor both rushed by Tony and he heard them quip about the hammer vs Thor’s other weapon before they were out of Tony’s earshot again. An explosion behind him caused him to look behind and he finally saw the teenager. He emerged from the smoke from the vehicle explosion and retracted his mask to grin at Tony. _

_ “Did you see that?!” Peter cried out to Tony and Tony could only look at him. Peter’s grin faltered slightly as Tony reached his side and threw his arms around Peter. _

_ “What?” Peter asked, voice muffled into Tony’s shoulder. _

_ “It’s good to see you kiddo.” Tony said as he choked back tears. _

_ “I just saw you though?” Peter asked, sounding confused. _

_ “No Pete, it’s been 5 years.” Tony explained. He pulled back from Peter as another explosion roared behind them. _

_ “Are you okay? I just saw you.” Peter asked, sounding worried now. “We just talked to one another like five minutes ago.” _

_ “Queens! Catch!” Steve’s voice suddenly called out and then the Gauntlet was at Peter’s feet. He and Tony both looked down, but before either of them could do anything, Peter was lying on the ground gasping. There was a spreading puddle of blood beneath him and his chest was rising up and down rapidly. _

_ An alien sneered at Tony, holding his spear up high before he turned and lumbered away. _

_ “Pete!{ Tony screamed out. The teenager turned his head slowly to look at Tony and he could see his eyes already starting to dull as he bled. Tony couldn’t move to kneel down next to the teenager, completely stuck into place. He cried out, tears flowing down his cheeks as Peter’s eyes fully dimmed and his chest ceased movement. _

“Tony!” _Pepper’s voice called out from somewhere but he couldn’t see her when he moved his head around, the tears clouding his vision._

_ He turned back to Peter to see Thanos standing there. He reached down to put the gauntlet on before looking at Tony, and speaking as he snapped _

_ “You lose.” _

“_No!” Tony screamed out. As he looked up he could see fighters disappearing- Avengers, Wakandans, Sorcerers and Thanos’ army alike._

“Tony!” _Pepper’s voice called again. He still couldn’t see her. He couldn’t move but he cried out- for Pepper, for Rhodey and for Peter._

“Tony!”_ Pepper called out again as Tony choked and sputtered on both his sobs and the smoke. He still couldn’t locate her through the debris and people disappearing. Thanos just stood in front of him, smug as the world fell apart again. Peter started disintegrating on the ground and this time Tony knew it was never going to be reversed, and he cried out again._

_ A sharp sting on his cheek had him reeling around but no one was near him. Another hard smack had him falling over with the force, and he shut his eyes. _

“Tony!” 

There were hands on his shoulders and he forced his eyes open. Pepper, May and Rhodey were all standing over him and the smoke was gone. Rhodey’s hands were the ones on his shoulders and when he saw that Tony was awake, he pulled them away.

“You were yelling out honey. And crying.” Pepper said softly and Tony moved his head to glance around the room. He was in the hospital in Wakanda, not on the battlefield of the Compound. He could see Peter looking over anxiously at him from the other bed and he tried to smile to reassure him, not sure it worked much.

Pepper ran a hand down his face where it was wet and then gave him a kiss on his forehead.

“Your heart is racing.” Rhodey commented and Tony nodded. It was racing extremely fast, and he tried to take a few deep breaths to calm it down, as he tried to calm himself down. He was trembling all over as he tried to come down from the visions his brain had decided to share with him while he was asleep.  


“That must have been some nightmare.” May commented. “I thought we just got out of a nightmare.” 

“Yeah.” Tony agreed as he kept looking at Peter. The teenagers’ eyes were anxious and worried, his injured side of his face pressed into the pillow as he looked at Tony.

“Doesn’t that hurt bud?” Tony asked and Peter shrugged.

“Wanted to make sure you were okay.” Peter replied.

“I’m fine kid. See?” Tony pushed himself up so he was sitting up, ignoring the hands that came out to help him. His head spun and he halted for a moment.

“Tony?” Rhodey asked and Tony shook his head slightly before resuming his movement. He pulled his legs off the bed to set them on the floor and then pushed up.

As he did so, his legs buckled and the ground came up very quickly. His head bounced on the ground and the blackness came quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whomp whomp Tony...


	15. Day 22 *Alt* Dehydration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ack, I fell behind. I'm trying to catch up so i'm hoping to post day 23 here on the right day but otherwise, there will be a day coming up where I post two chapters to make sure I end by the 31st.

“Is he okay?!”

“Peter, you need to calm down.”

“But he’s unconscious! He passed out! Is he even breathing?”

“Peter, he’s breathing perfectly fine. He just blacked out.”

Hands were on Tony’s neck and he could feel them pressing in gently, obviously trying to check his pulse as he came back from the darkness. He was exhausted, his head was pounding and he didn’t want to leave the relaxing darkness. He sighed slightly and the hands at his neck hesitated for a moment.

“But he fell!”

“Peter, he’s okay. He’s just an idiot who can’t take care of himself properly and now he’s dehydrated.”

“He’s not an idiot!”

“Yes he is.”

“Did he hit his head when he fell Bruce?”

“He did.”

Hands roamed around Tony’s head, lifting it slightly up as they carefully touched around towards the back, and then Tony flinched slightly as they touched a sore spot.   


“There’s a pretty big lump at the back here.” 

“Tony?”

A warmer hand touched Tony’s cheek than the one touching the back of his head and Tony leaned slightly into it. He kept his eyes closed as he felt himself fading out again.

-

“But why isn’t he awake yet?”

“Peter, it’s okay. He’s pretty dehydrated and he did give himself a good whack on his head.”

“But head injuries are a big deal! What if he hit his head too hard?”

“He didn’t. I’m not concerned about it Peter.”

“But it’s been hours and hours.”

“It’s only been a few hours Peter. I don’t think it’s the head injury keeping him asleep, it's the dehydration and exhaustion.”

“So he’s unconscious and it’s my fault?”

“That’s not at all what I said Peter. None of what has happened is your fault or Tony’s fault. It’s happened, but no one in this room or even in Wakanda is at fault.”   
“Bruce, I just want him awake.”

“I know Peter, I would like him awake too, but clearly his body doesn’t agree with us.”

The conversation came into Tony’s consciousness as he slowly came back from the black. He kept his eyes closed and didn’t say anything as he groggily tried to make out where he was. His head was still absolutely throbbing and he wasn’t fully conscious. He could make out Peter and Bruce’s voices, and he realized he wasn’t lying on the floor anymore.   


He drifted back out again.

-

“Tony! Seriously, wake up.”

Tony came back from the darkness to hear someone commanding directly into his ear and shoving his shoulders.

“Wake up.”

“Peter, you’re okay. You just need to lie down.”   


“TONY!”

Tony’s eyes flew open as the voice startled him completely into consciousness. His head throbbed as he stared directly into Rhodey’s eyes. The lights in the room were bright and he winced as they hurt his head even more.   


“What?” He got out as he looked at Rhodey. The man looked a little frantic and his expression instantly brought Tony to full awareness.

“Peter.” Rhodey stepped out of Tony’s eyesight and he could see Bruce and May standing next to Peter’s bed. The kid was groaning and whimpering on the bed, the blankets pushed fully back from him. His chest was red, and looked painful. Tony’s eyes pulled up to Peter’s face, the kids’ eyes were squeezed tightly shut and he looked like he was gritting his teeth, with his hand clenched next to him.

“Pete.” Tony called out. He had no idea what was wrong with the teenager but he could tell he was in a lot of pain and he didn’t want that. Peter’s eyes opened and he turned towards Tony. Peter’s eyes were glassy again and his face was red with sweat dripping down it towards his neck.

“What?” Tony asked again, looking towards Bruce.   


“He got a bit worked up about you fainting and tried to get out of the bed. It caused something to rupture in his stomach and I think the infection has gotten worse.” Bruce replied.

“You think?” Tony shot back, becoming panicked. He knew Peter really wasn’t strong enough for the infection to get any worse. Any worse meant surgery.   


“This isn’t something I’m familiar with Tony!” Bruce shot back loudly and Peter groaned. “Pete, Tony’s fine okay? See, he’s awake.”

“Where are the Wakandan doctors?” May asked as she looked around. “They said they’d be back shortly.”  
“We are here.” Three of the Wakandans walked through the door at that exact moment and started to surround the bed that Peter was lying in.    


“Tony.” Peter called out as one of them blocked Tony from his view. The woman shifted slightly until Tony could see Peter again. The teenagers’ eyes flickered up towards Tony and he tried to smile at him, feeling extremely worried.   


“Are you taking him to surgery?” Tony asked and Bruce nodded. “He’s not strong enough.”

“We don’t have a choice now.” Bruce replied. “We can’t risk waiting anymore.”

Peter’s eyes grew fearful as he glanced up at the Wakandan doctors who were bustling around him. He started breathing quickly and shallowly, his chest rising up and down rapidly as he gasped.   


“Pete.” Tony called out and Peter looked back at him. “You’re okay kid. You’re going to be absolutely fine.”

Bruce handed May a mask and she gently pulled at Peter’s face until she could put the mask over his nose and mouth. Peter fought her initially but Tony drew his attention back to himself.   


“Take deep breaths honey.” May called out to Peter and he nodded, trying to take deeper breaths and inhale through the mask. Tony watched as his eyes started to close and blink heavier. Peter kept trying to get this eyes open as he looked at Tony, but the man could see that he was losing his awareness with each blink.

“Close your eyes Pete. Go to sleep.” Secretly Tony was worried that once Peter’s eyes closed, they wouldn’t open again. He knew that was slightly irrational but he knew that Peter was still extremely weak and surgery could be hard on a previously completely healthy person. He definitely wouldn’t tell Peter that though, or say it while the kid was still awake.

“Hmmm.” Peter moaned out under the mask and then his eyes closed fully. His tense facial muscles relaxed, and his previously clenched hand loosened completely next to him.   


“Lets go.” One of the Wakandans said and within a moment, it was only May, Rhodey and Tony left in the room. May started crying in her chair, and Tony glared at Rhodey until he got the picture and walked over to the woman to put an arm around her.

“He’ll be okay. We all know how strong that kid is.” Rhodey tried to reassure May but she just kept crying. 


	16. Day 23- Bleeding Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo! Got this days' in as well on time, so i'm back on track. :)
> 
> I can't believe it's already the 23rd day of the month and there's only 8 prompt days left. I have 6 more chapters for this as there are two more combined days.

“Do you need ice?” Rhodey eventually spoke up to Tony who shook his head. The two men and May had been sitting in complete silence since Peter had been taken out of the room for the surgery. Tony’s best guess was that it had been at least two hours but he still didn’t have any concept of time. He needed to get his hands on his phone or a watch so he could at least know the time, and take a look at what was happening in the world. He hadn’t really thought about that yet, focused on Peter but now he was starting to wonder.

“Did you know you smell?” May called out to Tony and he looked at her, jaw dropping as Rhodey laughed hysterically. 

“What?” Tony asked.

“I can smell you from here. You really smell.” The tears that May had shed when Peter was taken out of the room had stopped and now she just looked pale with reddened eyes as she grinned slightly at Tony. 

“May Parker. I don’t know when I’m supposed to have taken a shower…” Tony tried to explain. “I don’t even know what day it is, or how much time has passed.”

“It’s been three days since the battle.” Rhodey answered, and Tony’s jaw dropped in surprise. He knew time had passed but he didn’t think it had been that long. 

“It’s really no wonder that you smell.” May commented.

“Haven’t you been here that long?” Tony shot back at her.

“Not that long, and I showered yesterday when I went around Wakanda.” May replied. 

“Why haven’t we heard anything about the surgery yet?” Tony changed the subject “How long has he been in there?” 

“Three hours so far.” Bruce walked through the door, looking beyond exhausted and Tony’s heart instantly dropped. 

“Why are you in here? Shouldn’t you be in there? Is he okay? What’s happening?” Tony asked. He shifted himself in the bed slightly so that he was sitting up even more, his head gave a throb as he did so. It didn’t hurt nearly as much as it had when he woke up to Rhodey shaking him and seeing Peter in pain but it was still quite painful. 

“I wanted to come and give you an update.” Bruce replied.

“And?” May prompted.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it but we’ve been fighting against his body.” Bruce replied. “We’re very lucky that Wakanda keeps all sorts of blood here and they have Peter’s type. When they cut into the infection, he started bleeding very heavily and it took some time to get it back under control.”

“He started bleeding out?” Tony interrupted.

“He was never at risk of bleeding out, there is plenty of blood here. It was just a tense half hour but we’ve got it back under control again, and they are working on ridding him of the infection now. We’re trying to make sure he stays under as well, He’s already woken up once.”

“I was working on getting an anesthetic for him before everything happened.” Tony replied. He had been close with the anesthetic but when Thanos had snapped, and he had lost Peter he had given it up, convinced that he wouldn’t see Peter again, and there was no point in developing it any longer. Now that Peter was back, resuming all the projects he had for the teenager would be his number one priority. He had three different suit prototypes saved, as well as many more modifications and ideas and if Peter wanted to start up Spiderman again, he would bring those to the forefront. 

“Is he going to be okay?” May’s voice sounded nervous and quiet but Bruce nodded quickly.

“I think he will. They are flushing out his body right now and that should hopefully deal with the infection. We aren’t touching his face yet, there’s a chamber that they are going to put him in at a later time, but everything else is being looked at, including checking on the amputation site.” Bruce explained, as he rubbed a hand down his face. He looked withdrawn and exhausted to Tony, and he did want Bruce to take a break, but he also wanted Bruce in with Peter. He knew the Wakandan doctors were beyond intelligent and knew what they were doing, but they didn’t personally know about Peter’s mutations and metabolism. 

“How much longer do you think you’ll be in there?” Rhodey asked.

“Hopefully not too much longer. Most of the infection was gone when I came out so within the hour, I don’t want to leave Peter under much longer than that.” Bruce turned to head out of the room and then looked at Tony.

“You smell.”

Both May and Rhodey laughed as Bruce headed out of the room and Tony just sputtered. 

“I do not.”

“You actually do Tony. You really should take a shower soon.” Rhodey replied. 

“What is this, team up on Tony day?” Tony protested. “I’ve had a kid to worry about.”

-

“How is he?” Tony asked as Peter’s bed came rolling back into the room with Bruce at his head. The kid’s eyes were closed and he was breathing deeply as the bed was pushed up next to where Tony was sitting up. He was still on the bed he had been lying on but he had pushed multiple pillows behind himself so he was sitting fully up. Peter had the blankets pulled up to the bottom of his stomach and Tony could see the incision where they had clearly gone into Peter to deal with the infection. Peter’s undamaged skin on his face was back to his normal color, and not the red that he was earlier. 

“They were able to get rid of all of the infection, and his fever has already gone down significantly. He was awake just a little while ago and much more coherent than he has been the past few days. I can actually say with true confidence that we are past the worst of it.” Bruce said confidently and Tony took a deep breath. “His face still needs to be worked on, but there’s nothing else that I can see going wrong.” 

“So he’s really going to be alright.” May choked out and Tony looked at her as she put her hands over her face. Her shoulders started shaking a moment later and Bruce headed straight for her. He knelt down in front of her and put one of his large hands on her shoulder. 

“May. He’s going to be okay.” He reassured her and May nodded, not taking her hands away from her face, and Tony could tell she was crying.

Peter’s hand was lying near to Tony, and he reached out to grab it. He squeezed it carefully but the teenager was deeply asleep and there was no response from him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a bit less actual seen whump here but finally Peter has turned a corner here!


	17. Day 24- Secret Injury

“I feel like we’ve been doing this an awful lot these past few days.” Tony said to Peter as he held the sleeping boys’ hand. “Me sitting here, you sleeping. I would be okay with it after this if we don’t do this again for a while. Well, not the whole sleeping thing- you should definitely do that, but not me sitting by your bedside after you’ve been in surgery, i think i’m okay with you not needing surgery again for a while-“

“You’re rambling honey.”

Tony glanced up to see Pepper smiling at him. She had come in and taken Rhodey’s place when he had convinced May to take a break and grab something to eat. 

It had been a number of hours since Peter had come out of the surgery but he had yet to wake up. Bruce wasn’t concerned so Tony was trying not to be concerned. He guessed Peter’s accelerated healing was at work and it always made Peter extremely tired. 

He had refused to leave when the others did, only conceding that he would take a shower when Peter woke up. Pepper had brought his phone in with her when she came in but Tony had just set it down on the table and hadn’t actually looked at it since. Pepper had also brought Tony a change of clothes when she came back as well as some clothes that she had found for Peter, those were all thrown on another bed haphazardly. 

Strange had sent Pepper back to New York so she could check on Morgan before she came back to Wakanda, and she had reported that Morgan was okay, just quite confused as to why she hadn’t seen her daddy in a few days. 

“Am not.” Tony protested. “I was just sharing my train of thought.”

“That’s also known as rambling.” Pepper  teased him. She looked fondly at Peter before looking back at Tony. “I haven’t heard you ramble like that in some time.”

“Well.“ Tony replied. “It’s hard when the person you’re talking to doesn’t respond.”

“Because he’s asleep.” Pepper said. “Generally people don’t respond when they’re asleep. It’s a little difficult for them to do that.”

“I now understand where Morgan gets her sass from.” Tony retorted.

“She gets it from both of us.” Pepper replied. “Don’t even pretend she doesn’t.” 

Tony snorted as Pepper laughed slightly. Morgan was a perfect combination of Pepper and Tony and he hated that he hadn’t seen her in a few days. They hadn’t been separated this long ever, but Peter needed him more than Morgan did right now. Once Peter was far on the road to recovery, Morgan would get her daddy’s attention again.

“Are you ever planning on showering?” Pepper asked after a moment of silence.

“Why does everyone keep asking me that? I’ll shower when I get to it.” Tony replied.

“Honey, you stink.”

“I do not!”

“She’s right. You do smell.”

Tony glanced down at the bed to see Peter blinking up at him grinning.

“You don’t get a say in this! You also smell but i’ve been nice enough not to

mention that.” Tony replied.

“I’m pretty sure I just had surgery, you can’t be mean to me.” Peter said.

“You did. How do you feel? Your fever is finally down now that the infection is gone.” Tony looked at Peter anxiously. The teenager shifted for a moment before he glanced down at his side.

Tony could pinpoint the moment Peter realized that his arm was gone.

“Pete-“ He started, but was cut off.

“Where’s my arm?”

“They had to amputate it Pete. There was a lot of damage and they had to try to contain the damage.” Tony explained.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me? Did you try to keep it a secret from me?” Peter cried out. Tears were spilling out of his eyes and he pulled his hand from Tony’s to grab his other shoulder.

“You’ve been sick Pete. There hasn’t been that much time to explain everything that’s happened.” Tony replied.

“But my arm-“

“We had to take it off to save your life honey.” Pepper chimed in and both Peter and Tony looked at her. “You were quite sick, and it was the only option at the time to try to save your life.”

“How am I supposed to be Spiderman with one arm? Or just do anything with one arm?” Peter cried out.

“Kid.” Tony drew Peter’s attention back to himself and away from Pepper. Peter’s head turned towards him after a moment. “If you want a Stark designed prosthetic, you will get a top of the line one. We can design it to your exact specifications, make it red&blue, put your webs into it, anything you want.”

“I want my arm back!” Peter replied and Tony nodded.

“I know kid, i do. But you were so brave Pete, you saved so many lives, you saved countless lives, we may never know exactly how many lives you saved. It’s not fair that you lost your arm but you are the bravest person I have ever known.”

“I’m not any braver than you.” Peter replied. He had shoved half his face into his pillow and his reply was muffled. Tony reached over and carefully pulled Peter’s face out. He was on Peter’s good side but he still didn’t want to hurt the kid.

“You are so much braver than me Pete. And so much braver than any other Avenger or any other person I know. Multiple people had that Gauntlet before you but you were the one who snapped and who saved everyone. You saved the entire universe kid.” 

Tony looked Peter directly in the eyes, trying to convey the seriousness of his words. “We weren’t  keeping the loss of your arm a secret from you, we were just waiting until you got past the fever to talk to you, but you beat us to it.” 

“Did I have surgery? My stomach hurts. And my face.” Peter scrunched his face up as he said that, cringing a little as the pain struck him.

“You did, but the infection that was inside you is all gone. You’ll still need some work on your face to try to see if anything can be repaired but other than that, you’re good kid.” Tony replied.

“You’re quite a miracle Peter. I don’t think many other people could have survived what you just went through, enhanced or not.” Pepper said. 

There was a moment of silence between the three before Peter shifted slightly to look up at Tony.

“I can have a Stark prosthetic?” 

“Of course kiddo. We’ll design it together. It’ll be completely one of a kind.” 


	18. Day 25- Humiliation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next time I decide to do something like Whumptober again...  
1\. i probably won’t  
2\. I really need to write more prompts beforehand. I have been writing these each evening and not really proofreading them at all before I post them as I am trying to get them posted on time... really not the way to do this.

“But why can’t I go myself?” Peter repeated as he tried to sit himself up on the bed with his one arm. 

Tony reached over to assist him and together they managed to get him up and leaning against the pillows. He had made clear his displeasure about being on his back and wanted to sit up. Bruce had warned Tony that the medicine they still had Peter on could potentially lead to mood swings and right now Tony was dealing with a grumpy Peter Parker. 

“Because you are still healing Pete. You can’t get out of bed by yourself yet.” Tony repeated himself for what felt like the tenth time. 

He and Peter had been having the discussion about whether or not Peter could go to the bathroom by himself- Peter totally for it, Tony definitely against it. Peter definitely couldn’t walk by himself yet and Tony was not about to let him try to prove that wrong.

“This is so humiliating.” Peter grumbled.

“Look, I’ll walk with you to the bathroom and then I’ll stand out here to walk you back to the bed. You’ll be in the bathroom by yourself kid.” Tony tried to reason. 

“I can walk there by myself!” Peter tried to protest and Tony shook his head.

“If I let you try- which I definitely am  not- but if I let you try and you fall and hurt yourself, then it’s my head on the platter for letting you try. I’ve seen Bruce angry and while I don’t fully know if he can get angry in his new thing he has going on, I don’t feel like testing it.” 

Tony reached out to pet Peter’s hand and the teenager yanked it away before looking at where his other hand should be. Tony had seen Peter look down multiple times as if expecting his other arm to be there and looking upset each time it was gone. While he had accepted Tony’s offer of a prosthetic arm, Tony knew it wouldn’t be that easy for Peter to get used to a limb being gone. 

“Well then i’m just not going.” Peter said in a huff as he glared at Tony.

“Fine.” Tony just shrugged. “Then you’ll have the pleasure of getting a catheter put back in.”

“What?” Peter sputtered. “I am not getting a catheter.” 

“It’s that or me helping you Pete. We have to know that all of your organs are still working normally and you going to either get that catheter put back in, or you are going to the bathroom. It’s your choice.” 

Tony knew that Peter was going to concede, he had been mortified when he had found out that there had been a catheter in him while he had been recovering, and that the doctors had only taken it out after the surgery before bringing Peter back into the room. 

“Fine.” Peter eventually said and Tony sighed. He stood up as Peter carefully sat up and extended his arm to Tony. Tony slung Peter’s arm around his shoulder and pulled him out of the bed. They made their way carefully towards the bathroom, stopping momentarily when Peter got lightheaded.

“Do you want to sit down?” He suggested and Peter shook his head emphatically. 

“No.”

“Okay, lets go slowly.” 

When they reached the bathroom, Tony led Peter inside and then left the room, shutting the door behind him as he did so. It was a few minutes before the door opened again and Peter stood there swaying slightly unsteadily. 

Tony instantly reached out to grab Peter and the two of them walked slowly back towards the bed. Peter lay himself down among the pillows before looking back up at Tony.

“Feel okay?” Tony asked and Peter just nodded, not saying anything. 

“Bud, don’t be embarrassed. Do you want to know how many times Rhodey had to help me? Too many. A stupid amount of times. And I didn’t even save the world, I was just dumb.” 

“I know.” Peter answered quietly. “I just hate that I can’t even go to the bathroom by myself.”

“We’ll get you there again bud. You’ll be doing that, and be out there as Spiderman before you know it.” Tony assured Peter as he reached for Peter’s hand again to give it a reassuring squeeze.

The teenager let him this time, and he smiled slightly at Tony.

“Thank you. Really.” Peter said and Tony knew they had passed the grumpy Peter stage for at least the moment.

“You’re welcome kid.”

“Really. You don’t have to be in here staying with me and helping me. I’m sure there’s things that need to be done, and your daughter probably needs you and-“

“Hey.” Tony cut Peter off. “You need me right now so I’m staying here. Morgan has Happy and Pepper saw her a little while ago. She’s fine, but now the focus is on getting you better. I’ll be here as long as you need, and want me Pete.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohhh grumpy Peter...


	19. Day 6- Abandonment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, sorry I fell behind again.
> 
> Also, I said I was done with Peter whump and i'm still kind of whumping him a little bit? But also comfort. :)

“Are we in the more emotional area of the mood swings bud?” Tony asked Peter as the two of them lay on the bed in the medical area. Tony had pushed one of the other beds over by Peter’s so that the two of them could lie comfortably next to one another. Tony knew he wasn’t technically supposed to be this close to Peter but the teenager had been so upset that Tony wouldn’t lie next to him that he had given up, and ignored Bruce’s advice. 

Peter had been crying on and off for the last hour or so, not really answering Tony when he questioned why, leading Tony to think that the medicine was really kicking the teenager in the emotions, taking him from the previous grumpiness to the current teariness. 

Peter had his head on Tony’s shoulder and his arm thrown across Tony’s stomach. Tony’s arm was behind Peter’s shoulders, being careful where he put his hand as it was on Peter’s damaged side.    
Currently the teenagers’ eyes were closed but Tony knew by Peter’s breathing that he was awake. The teenager took hitched breaths every so often and tears trickled down his cheeks. Tony had reached over to wipe them away each time they did, but it hadn’t stopped Peter. 

“Bud.” Tony said softly as Peter’s breath hitched again.

“So-sorry.” Peter hiccuped slightly. “I don’t know w-why i’m crying.”

“It’s the medicine kiddo. You’re okay.” Tony reassured him as more tears streaked down his cheeks. He opened his eyes to look at Tony who smiled back at him.

“What are you doing?” Bruce walked through the door to see the two of them lying there. “Tony, you know you’re not supposed to be that close to him yet.”

“It’s fine Bruce. Pete needed some comfort.” Tony said dismissively. 

“Well now he needs some time to work on his face.” Bruce replied. “So you need to leave him.”

“What?” Peter cried out. “No.” He tried to grab a hold of Tony’s shirt to grip onto him tighter, his fingers curling in Tony’s shirt.

“Yes Pete.” Bruce said firmly, but his eyes were sympathetic. “You’re stable enough right now that we can work on your face.”

“My face i-is fine.” Peter protested. “It fee-feels fine.” 

“Bud.” Tony said as he carefully unfurled Peter’s fingers. He didn’t have his usual Spiderman strength so it was much easier for him to do so. Peter just looked at him, looking completely betrayed. 

“I-I don’t want t-this.” Peter cried out. “My-my face is fine.”

“Kiddo, it’s not.” Tony replied. He nodded to Bruce and then saw the Wakandans who had come in behind him with some movable device. “If they can help your damaged skin, then we need to do that.”

“You-you’re leaving me?” Peter sputtered. “You’re abandoning me?”

Tony’s heart sank as Peter’s eyes filled up again. 

“Oh Pete. I’ll be back before you know it.” Tony pulled Peter’s fingers away and slipped off the bed before the teenager could grab at him again. Peter’s chest started to rise rapidly and he started gasping. 

“You’re lea-leaving me.”

“Pete. I promise i’m coming back.” Tony glanced up to see Bruce looking at him. He was mouthing words and it took Tony a moment to see Bruce was asking if they should sedate Peter. Tony glanced down at the gasping teenager and nodded. One of the Wakandans came up behind Peter and within a moment, had administered the sedative to Peter.

“What?” Peter asked as he looked down at his arm. His eyes started to droop but he kept trying to open them to look at Tony.

“Bud. Close your eyes, get some sleep. I’ll be back when you wake up.” Tony reassured him. He reached over to Peter’s eyes and put his hand over them to get the teenager to keep them closed. He heard Peter sigh and then the teenager gradually went limp as he fell asleep.

Tony pulled away as the Wakandans pulled the machinery over to them. Peter was fast asleep on the bed and didn’t stir as the machinery got adjusted. The machine was put closely to Peter’s face without touching it and then turned on.

“Go and take a shower.” Bruce instructed Tony as the machinery started making noises. Tony didn’t respond to him, looking at Peter instead.

“Tony.” Bruce said again.

“Hm?” Tony asked.

“Go and shower. Take a break. Get some food.” Bruce instructed him and Tony sighed. 

“I don’t even know where to go.” 

“Rhodes is outside the door waiting for you. He’ll show you.” 

“What about Pete? I don’t want to leave him alone.” Tony replied.

“He’ll be out for a while Tony. I’ll be in here with him if he happens to wake up, which he won’t.”

Tony hesitated longer, not wanting to really leave the teen. 

“Tony, go. You haven’t left this room in days. You need a break.” Bruce repeated.

“I don’t need a break.” Tony tried to protest but Bruce just gave him a look.

“Is he coming?” Rhodey opened the door and stuck his head in. 

“Good, maybe you could get him out of here.” Bruce called to Rhodey. The man walked fully into the room and strode over to Tony, before yanking on his arm and pulling him. Tony was too surprised to fight back until he was almost out of the door.

“Rhodey-” He tried to protest but Rhodey just shut the door behind them. 

“Nope. You need to shower and you need to eat something.”

Rhodey led Tony away from the hospital room and down the hallway. Tony had never been to Wakanda before and he found himself looking around as he followed Rhodey. He knew Wakanda was very advanced but he was blown away by what he was seeing. Once Peter was better and the world recovered, he knew he had to get back here to take a proper look around and look at Wakanda’s inventions. 

Tony took a shower in the room Rhodey led him too, and then ate the food that Pepper had brought to him. She and May had been off doing things around Wakanda and Pepper told him May had talked to Peter’s friends to check on them and talk to them about Peter. 

He was back in Peter’s room before long, the teenager still asleep on the bed when he walked in. He gasped instinctively when he saw Peter’s face, and Bruce turned around to him and smiled.

“It worked well.” Bruce said and Tony nodded. It had only been a few hours but the teenagers’ damaged face was almost repaired. There was still damage there but the majority of the skin was pink again, and looked almost normal.

“Bruce-” Tony was almost speechless and Bruce chuckled. 

“His chest looks good too.” Bruce pointed at Peter’s chest and Tony nodded. There was still strips of white scarring there but the black was gone. “Those scars will eventually fade.”

“He is going to experience fatigue and very likely breathlessness for a few days as we did repair damage to his chest, but he will be fine.” One of the Wakandans explained and Tony nodded.

“Once he’s awake again, you need to get him up and walking every so often.” Bruce explained. “He can’t keep lying on his back.”

“I’ll take care of it.” Tony nodded as he moved back to Peter’s side. He didn’t climb up on the bed like before but sat down in a chair next to Peter’s newly repaired side. 


	20. Chatper 27&28- *Alt* Breathless & *Alt* Winded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I said it would only be comfort? I can't help whumping Peter at least a little bit. 
> 
> 3 more chapters to go. The next chapter is angsty but after that, the last 2 chapters are planned to be comforty. :)

“You have to get up Peter.” 

“I don’t want to.”

“What happened to wanting to be up Peter? You have to walk around.”

“I’m tired.”

Peter yawned widely on the bed as if to prove to May and Tony that he was as tired as he claimed to be. 

“Pete, you haven’t gotten up in 4 hours, and we need to get you up. We should have had you up over an hour ago.” 

“I’m tired.”

“I know bud, but you need to get up on your feet. It’ll be quick buddy, we’ll just take a nice quick stroll down the hallway.” Tony reassured the teenager.

He was trying to follow Bruce’s advice to keep Peter up on his feet, and stretching his legs. Both to stretch his legs and to get his blood pumping, and hopefully get his breaths to be deeper and get down to his lungs. Bruce had explained that Peter taking deep breaths was extremely important in making sure Peter didn’t develop anything that could manifest in his lungs. The damage had been surprisingly minimal in Peter’s lungs and everyone wanted to make sure it stayed that way.

“Sleeeeeeep.” Peter whined and both May and Tony laughed at the teenager.

“Honey, you just need to walk around for a few minutes and then we’ll let you rest for a few hours before you have to walk again.” May tried to persuade Peter.

He whined and threw his hand up over his eyes. He had been fast asleep before May and Tony woke him up and he was still half asleep. 

“Come on bud. Up and at ‘em. No more sleeping.” Tony pulled Peter’s arm away from his eyes and smiled back down at the teenager. 

“Whyyyy.” Peter whined again. 

“Whining doesn’t look good on you bud.” Tony teased and Peter whined again. 

“Come on honey. The quicker you’re up, the quicker you can lie back down.” Mayreplied. “Just a quick walk.”

Peter groaned but started to push up on the bed. Tony pulled his arm up carefully and May pushed up behind Peter’s shoulders until he was sitting up again. When he was sitting up properly, he pulled his arm from Tony’s and rubbed at his eyes sleepily. 

“You alright?” 

Peter nodded and pushed up until he was on his feet. He swayed slightly sleepily and Tony threw his arm around him. They walked slowly across the room to the door while May stayed behind in the room. Tony knew she was going to change the sheets and pillowcases on Peter’s bed while they were gone, one of the Wakandans having brought the linen in 15 minutes prior. 

“Ugh.” Peter groaned as the two of them started walking down the hallway. 

“Pete?” Tony glanced down at the teenager who had halted his footsteps. The teenager only wheezed slightly and Tony grew instantly concerned. 

“Pete?” He asked again as Peter wheezed again as he took a breath in. The teenager’s knees buckled unexpectedly and Tony tried to grab onto him before he smacked into the floor. He only succeeded in slowing Peter’s descent to the floor and the two of them ended up sitting on the floor leaning against the wall. Tony put a hand on Peter’s chest, concerned that the teenager had gotten winded and breathless so easily. He used his other hand to put fingers around Peter’s wrist to feel his pulse. It was fast but not out of control for the teenager. 

“Pete?” Tony asked a third time and the teenager finally looked over at him. His face was slightly red and sweaty but as the two of them sat on the floor, the wheezing slowly eased up, until it finally disappeared.

“I’m tired.” Peter repeated.

“Okay, lets just sit on the floor for a little bit kid. May will come looking soon enough.” Tony told the teenager who let his head slip down onto Tony’s shoulder as his breathing slowed down. He had left his cell phone in the room but he knew May would eventually come looking for them so he would remain there until she, or someone else came along to help him get Peter up. 

“Walking is dumb.” Peter spoke up and Tony laughed despite himself at the teenager. “It is!”

“Okay kid.” Tony replied. “Do you want to stay here?”

“Yep.” Peter replied. Tony glanced down to him to see his eyes were closed and his hand rested limply in his lap. 

“Are you going to fall asleep?” He asked.

“Yep.” Peter answered quickly and Tony laughed again.

“Alright kid. Take a nap. I’ll just sit here and cater to your whims.” Tony teased and Peter just hummed. 

Tony saw May stick her head out the door of the hospital room. Her expression grew concerned but Tony shook his head and she smiled before pulling her head back in, leaving Tony with the now sleeping teenager.


	21. Day 29- Numb

“Okay so what do you want to watch kid? There’s plenty of movies here.” Tony asked the teenager who was sitting on the couch next to him. They were sitting on the couch in the living room of the cabin and it was the middle of the night.

Pepper, May and Morgan were all upstairs in the bedrooms, fast asleep as Tony and Peter sat next to each other. They had been back in Upstate New York for a few days but neither Tony or Peter had been sleeping all that well through the night. 

Whenever Tony had tried to shut his eyes, all he could remember was the vision of Peter snapping the stones. The teenagers’ face had healed remarkably well but he was still incredibly weak and tired easily during the day, taking multiple naps. Tony had come across Morgan and Peter outside on the cabins’ lawn the day prior, finding Peter fast asleep as Morgan played around with his hair. It had taken a while to get the kid to wake up, even with Morgan poking him in the cheek repeatedly.

The nighttime was a completely different story, and Tony had found Peter lying awake every night since they had left Wakanda. Tony had sat with him a few times but tonight he had pulled Peter out of the bed for the two of them to sit in the living room.

“I don’t mind.” Peter replied quietly. He hadn’t been as talkative as he normally was, and it was concerning Tony a little. He knew the teenager was recovering and had been through a lot but he was finding that he was missing the super talkative teenager that he had known five years ago.

“Well Morgan was just watching Paw Patrol, she finds it very enjoyable. How do you feel about Paw Patrol?” Tony asked.

“I don’t know what that is.” Peter replied. “I heard Morgan talking about it though.”

“From what I can gather, it’s about a patrol of paws.” Tony said, trying to get a laugh out of Peter. The teenager just smiled slightly and Tony frowned. 

“Are you feeling okay kid? You’ve been very quiet.” Tony asked. Peter had even been quiet when he had met Morgan, and when he had spent time with her. Tony’s kid knew of Peter and Spiderman and had been very excited to meet Peter and spend time with him, but the teenager hadn’t shown quite as much excitement. 

“It’s just hard.” Peter said quietly and Tony threw his arm around his shoulder. 

“What is bud?”

“Everything.” Peter replied.

“What can I do to help?” Tony asked. He wanted nothing more than to be able to help Peter, to try to pull him up and out of the slump he was clearly in. The kid had been through some serious trauma, and Tony wanted to help him through that. His experience with trauma had led him to some destructive tendencies and he wanted to make sure to steer Peter away from that.

“I don’t know.” Peter replied.

“Can you tell me how you’re feeling?” Tony pressed. The kid was always much better at talking about his feelings and emotions than Tony ever was. Morgan had changed Tony on that subject, but Peter would still be better than him any day.

“I feel numb.” Peter responded. 

“Numb?” Tony asked.

“A lot of things have changed, and it’s been five years.” Peter shifted slightly on the couch to sit slightly away from Tony, the mans’ arm falling slightly from Peter’s shoulders. “You’re all five years older, and you have Morgan, and the world has changed.” 

“It has Pete, but don’t believe that we didn’t miss you every single day.” Tony replied. 

“Why did you get everyone back? It’s been five years.”

“Because of what I just told you Peter. We missed you every single day. May and I the most, but Pepper missed you too, and even Happy.” 

Peter smiled slightly and Tony cheered inwardly. The smile only lasted on Peter’s face for a moment before it slid off and he was frowning again. Tony nudged him slightly and Peter sighed.

“I lost my arm.”

“You did.”

“I only have one arm.”

“You do.” 

“I haven’t seen MJ or Ned yet. They don’t know i’m missing an arm.” 

“They do actually Pete.” Tony replied. Peter turned his head up to look at him and he nodded. “May spoke to them and told them what you had done. But outside of anyone who was at that fight, May and Happy, no one actually knows what you did.” 

Tony wanted Peter to get the credit that he deserved for saving the universe, but he knew the teenager wouldn’t want that. There would be far too many questions about how Peter had survived, too many people wanting to talk to him and Peter didn’t deserve that. He figured once the world calmed down again, that no one would really be looking at Peter. If he gave the kid a prosthetic arm, it could be explained away as an accident occured in coming back, and it would be hidden under the Spiderman suit when the kid went out. 

“Are they okay?” Peter asked and Tony nodded.

“That’s good.” Peter said softly. “Paw Patrol?”

“Paw Patrol.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next one is fluffy I promise. :)


	22. Day 30- Recovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at me updating in the middle of the day!
> 
> This one got SUPER wordy...

“I did not! I did not say that!” 

The voices coming from outside made Tony smile. He hadn’t heard Peter that exuberant in a while and it lifted his heart. 

The teenagers’ two best friends had come up to the cabin, and Peter had been so happy when they surprised him. Happy had happily gone to the rapidly improving city to go and get them, a few weeks having passed since Tony & Peter had come back to New York, and 6 weeks since the reverse had happened. 

It was a completely different situation to when the snap had happened, and Tony knew that the Avengers who were in the city had been working diligently to help the city out, some of them having spread to other cities in the States to try to spread more help and reassure people. There were a lot of people who no longer had homes, and the shelters were filled up with people trying to find housing and reunite with their families. 

Sam had headed down to DC with Rhodey while Scott had gone to San Francisco. Tony didn’t really know where Thor, the Guardians or Carol had gone, and eventually he would take a look at that.

Tony knew he should really have been there and helping out, but he couldn’t bring himself to feel that bad about it, and Pepper had agreed with that. She had told him quite emphatically that he wasn’t needed at the company for a while, and that she could handle anything that was needed, along with Happy and Rhodey when he was needed. The stockholders had requested Tony be at more than one meeting and Pepper had shot them down every single time.

Steve had texted him a few times to give him updates but he had spent most of his time taking care of Peter, and spending time with Morgan. 

She had missed Tony while he had been gone in Wakanda, and started being a little more clingy than she had ever been before. He couldn’t blame her, he had never been away from her that long before, and she knew that something serious had happened. 

Peter was finally in recovery from the incident, and the two of them had been working on his prosthetic. The teenager had managed to pull himself out of the difficult area he had been in, and was finally smiling and working his way back to being back to the Peter he had been before Titan.

Tony knew Peter would never be truly the same, none of them ever would really. 

“Why would you say that MJ?!” Peter’s voice rang out again before Tony heard the other two teenagers burst out into laughter. 

“I really missed that.” May spoke up from where she was sitting at the dining room table coloring with Morgan. 

They had all of Morgan’s coloring books spread across the table along with all of Morgan’s crayons. Peter had been coloring with them until Happy showed up with the other teenagers’ and his half colored picture was left on the table. Tony glanced to her and then to Morgan who was coloring Steve’s Captain America outfit bright orange. She had a very serious opinion that his outfit needed to be orange, and that blue wasn’t as exciting of a color as bright orange. She had informed Tony one day that his suit should have been bright orange instead of red and he had carefully shot that one down.

“I did too.” Tony agreed. 

“Daddy?” Morgan chirped up.

“Yes baby?” 

“Is Peter feeling better?” Morgan put down her orange crayon and shifted in her chair to look at Tony, a serious look on her face.

“He is Morgan. He’s feeling a lot better.” Tony replied.

“I’m really glad. I was really sad that he was feeling sad.” 

Morgan picked her crayon back up to continue coloring Steve’s outfit and Tony and May met each others eyes, and smiled at each other above her head. There was another burst of laughter outside and Tony glanced towards the door.

“Go ahead.” May motioned towards the door. “I’ve got this one.” 

“Yay.” Morgan cheered. She pushed one of her Paw Patrol books at May along with a mess of crayons. Tony smiled at them and headed out the door to go outside into the sunshine.

The three teenagers were all sitting on blankets towards the lake with sandwiches and other snacks. Tony was really glad to see that Peter’s appetite had come back, and he was eating as much as he was supposed to with his metabolism. He had lost weight during his recovery, but had gained some weight and was looking healthier every single day.

“Mr Iron Man!” Ned noticed him and called out. 

Peter swung around, his face lighting up with a smile when he saw Tony. The teenage girl just merely smiled slightly at Tony, not showing the exuberance that the boys showed him. 

“Hey Tony.” Peter called out and Ned rounded on him.

“You call him Tony?! Since when?!” 

“Since he asked me to.” Peter replied. 

“When did he do that?” Ned asked. 

“A few weeks ago I think?” Peter responded. 

“Daddy!” Morgan called out from behind him and he turned around to see Morgan and May heading towards them. Both females had coloring books in their arms and Morgan was carrying a bunch of crayons in her hands. 

“Hi Morg.” Tony greeted as he bent down to pick his kid up. She held tightly onto her coloring book and crayons as he wrapped his arm around her small back.

“Hi Petey!” Morgan called out to Peter who waved back, grinning at Morgan.

“He is much better!” Morgan claimed to Tony and he nodded. 

“He is, isn’t he?” 

“He didn’t even smile when he met me, and now he’s very smiley.” Morgan replied. “He’s happy.”

“Do you think so baby? Is he happy?” 

“Yep.” Morgan nodded. 

She squirmed in Tony’s arms, and he set her back on the ground. She took the coloring book from May, and took off down the lawn towards the teenagers who all called out her name as she headed towards them. Peter put his arm out and Morgan launched herself into him, dropping her crayons and the coloring books to throw her small arms around Peter’s neck.

“He does look so much better than he did.” May moved to Tony’s side as she spoke. “I was really worried about him Tony.”

“I was too.” Tony agreed.

“But our kid is back, and smiling again.” May smiled brightly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t anticipate Morgan becoming such a big thing in this chapter honestly but she came and stayed.


	23. Day 31: Embrace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. I can’t believe I actually posted prompt 31 on Oct 31 and made it through the month!  
Next time i decide to do something like this i’ve already decided-  
1\. i probably won’t  
2\. I need to write way more ahead of time!
> 
> I know there’s quite a lot of you who were here from the beginning or have joined along the way- please feel free to comment and let me know how you felt about this entire Whumptober or what some of your favorite chapters/parts were. :) I love to know what caused you to come and then if you stayed, what caused you to stay! :)

Morgan thinks your arm needs to be orange instead of blue. She doesn’t really like blue.” 

“She wants my arm to be orange and red?” 

“She thinks it looks like the sunset. She really likes the sunset.” 

Peter laughed as Tony made a face at his statement. 

“I mean it Pete. She loves the sunset. Pepper and I have found her outside before watching the sunset. Scared us the first time she did it, of course she found it hilarious that we were so scared, and then she kept doing it. She’s far too smart for her own good.” 

“She really takes after you Tony.” Peter sounded delighted as he laughed at Tony again. “So is she going to hate that the arm is red and blue? I don’t want her to hate my arm, and not want hugs from me any more.” Peter looked so concerned that it made Tony reach over and squeeze his shoulder. “She said she really likes my hugs, I don’t want her to not like my hugs.” 

“It’s your arm Pete. A four and a half year old should not get to make that decision for you.” Tony replied.

“I mean, it’s Morgan-”

Tony laughed and looked in front of him as Peter continued worrying about Morgan not wanting his hugs anymore. 

The prosthetic that Peter and Tony had been working on for the past few months was sitting on the workstation in front of them, almost completely finished. It would have been done a week previous but both Peter and Tony had come up with more ideas for it. There had been a debate about whether it should be Spiderman colors, or if it should be more muted as well as a debate as to whether Peter should be wearing it at all times or if he should take breaks if there was any phantom pain, pain that Peter had been dealing with at times. Tony knew that it hurt Peter more often than he let on to Tony, but he didn’t want to pressure the teenager. FRIDAY was programmed to alert him if the pain got to an unmanagable level, and so far he hadn’t had any notifications. 

They had fitted it with the web shooters just in the case that Peter didn’t have access to the suit and needed assistance, as well as a multitude of other fancy gadgets. Peter didn’t even know everything that was in it, Tony having worked on it while the teenager had been sleeping and he was looking forward to everytime that Peter would find something. Tony had moved back to the city and back to the penthouse that he and Pepper owned. He hadn’t been back there for a while but Peter needed to start going back to school, and it was a lot closer for Tony to be in the city. Morgan had been really excited to move to the city to meet some kids her age, and had already made some friends. 

Pepper had teased him gently about his need to be near Peter but he didn’t care. He had lost the kid for 5 years, and then gone through almost losing him again and he wasn’t going to deal with that again. May had her own apartment but Peter had spent a grand total of 3 nights there since they had come back to the city, and May hadn’t argued that. She had been spending a lot of time with Happy which Tony was sure had definitely helped lead to her lack of argument.

“Tony?” Peter broke into Tony’s thoughts. He blinked and looked at the teenager who was looking at him curiously.    
“What’s up?” 

“Do you think it’s done?” Peter asked him. 

“Do  _ you _ think it’s done?” Tony asked back. Peter nodded enthusiastically and grabbed the arm from the table. Tony reached over to help him get it attached to his shoulder. There were nanites that had been created to make the merging of Peter’s shoulder and the prosthetic arm a much easier process. They blended together seamlessly as the arm attached to the teenagers’ shoulder. He winced slightly and Tony put his hands up towards Peter’s shoulder to assist. Peter shook his head and started moving his arm around. 

“It feels weird.” Peter said after a moment.

“Yeah?” 

“I got sort of used to not having an arm, and learning how to do things one handed and now I have an arm again. A one of a kind, Stark prosthetic.” Peter curled the fingers of the arm and grinned happily at Tony. “What did you put in here?”

“Why do you think I put anything in there?” Tony asked and Peter just gave him a look.

“Given how much you put in my suit, I know you put things in here. And I asked FRIDAY how much time you were spending in here.”

“FRIDAY!” Tony called out to the AI, in pretend outrage.

“Sorry boss.” FRIDAY sounded completely unapologetic. 

“Tony?” Peter asked.

“I’ll let you find out kid.” Tony grinned and then let out a breath in surprise as Peter unexpectedly threw his arms around him and embraced him.

“Pete?” Tony asked. Peter kept his arms wrapped around him and Tony brought his own arms up to hug the teenager. “You alright?”

“I can finally hug you.” Peter replied. “And thank you for everything.”

“Pete, you don’t have to thank me-” Tony started and Peter shook his head before pulling away.

“I do actually.” Peter said. “You’ve been taking care of me for the past few months when you didn’t have to. You have Morgan, you have Pepper, you have your company, but you’ve spent so much time with me. You built me a prosthetic arm and you dealt with all of my mood swings and issues. You didn’t have to do any of that.”

“Bud, you’re my kid. Morgan’s my kid, but you were my first kid. I told you you’re my kid, and that means I take care of you in any way that is needed.” Tony responded and Peter beamed at him. “And I think you staying here has been good for both of us. And May’s enjoyed having more time to spend with Happy-”

“Ugh stop that.” Peter groaned and Tony laughed at the expression on the teenagers face. “I don’t like thinking about that.”

“You don’t want Happy and May together?” Tony asked, raising his eyebrows at Peter who just glared at him.

“It’s just a bit odd. I want May to be happy, but Happy isn’t really who I thought she would go for. Happy isn’t always the most happy.” Peter tried to explain and Tony nodded. 

“I think it really helped each of them when you were gone Pete. They spent a lot of time together and undoubtedly talked about you.” Peter’s face fell slightly at Tony’s words, and the man instantly kicked himself for making the smile fall.

“Daddy!” Morgan came rushing into the room, Pepper following more slowly behind. The two of them had gone out of the day for a mommy & daughter day around the city. “Petey!” 

“Hi Morgan.” Peter greeted. Morgan rushed over to him and then stopped when she saw the arm.

“Why isn’t it red and orange?!” 

**Author's Note:**

> Some of the days will be combined, so I won't be posting every single day for this, but every prompt will get filled.


End file.
